. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/43 
8 December 2006 
 (06-5873) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE AT THE 
MEETING OF THE TBT COMMITTEE ON 9  NOVEMBER 2006 
 
Agenda Item 4:  Technical Cooperation
 
 
 
 
 The following statement, dated 9 November 2006, is being circulated at the request of the International Trade Centre (ITC)
. 
 
 
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 I. ITC INFORMATION PACK ON THE WTO TBT AGREEMENT 
1. ITC has developed an Information Pack , titled “The TBT Agreement: A Business 
Perspective”, under World Tr@de Net, an ITC programme which responds to the need for 
information, practical advice and training of the business community on WTO issues directly relevant 
to their business operations. 
2. This Information Pack is mainly aimed at  helping businesses in developing countries and 
economies in transition to take advantage of the be nefits of the TBT Agreement for maintaining and 
improving market access for export products.  The P ack has been prepared for use as background 
material in national and regional workshops in developing countries and economies in transition, inter 
alia, on WTO/TBT issues. 
3. The Information Pack on TBT consists of a Presenter’s Pack, containing information deemed 
necessary to support the Presenter in conducting the wo rkshop, and a Participant’s Pack, consisting of 
Notes and Slides. 
4. The Pack is available at ITC in English, Fren ch and Spanish, in CD-ROM as well as in hard 
copy.  
5. Previous versions of this Information Pack were used as background material in regional 
workshops in Brazil and the Philippines (2002), in national workshops in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan 
(2004) and in a regional workshop in Kenya (2005).   The current Information Pack was finalized 
based on feedback obtained during the workshops and from the participants.  It was used in national 
workshops in Kazakhstan a nd Uzbekistan in 2005 and in regiona l workshops on TBT under JITAP in 
Malawi and in Benin in 2005.   G/TBT/GEN/43 
Page 2  
 
  II. FOLLOW- UP OF THE WORKSHOP ON “INFLUENCING AND MEETING 
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS: CHALLENGES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES” 
6. An interactive workshop on “Influencing and M eeting International Standards: Challenges for 
developing countries”, was organized by ITC jointl y with the Commonwealth Secretariat, in June 
2005 in Geneva.  The publication with the same  name was used as background material for the 
workshop. The workshop reviewed the recommenda tions for technical assi stance contained in the 
joint ComSec/ITC publication (especially that on “Mentoring and Twinning Arrangement”).  The 
final report of the workshop is available with IT C and has been distributed to the workshop’s 
participants.  ITC is now developing proposals fo r providing assistance to developing countries to 
influence as well as meet technical regulations and st andards, including those imposed by the private 
sector, taking into account assistance being provide d in this area to avoid duplication and the 
deliberations and recommendations of the workshop. 
III. TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR IMPROVING THE STANDARDIZATION, QUALITY 
ASSURANCE, ACCREDITATION AND METROLOGY (SQAM) 
INFRASTRUCTURE IN MALAWI - ITC PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 
 
7. ITC in collaboration with the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) is implementing a 
Technical Support Project for improving the Standard ization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and 
Metrology (SQAM) infrastructure in Malawi.  The two-year project is funded under the Integrated 
Framework.  The overall and long-term objective of the project is to build national capacity in the 
field of SQAM both at the enterprise level, thr ough the enhancement of the awareness of Malawi 
enterprises on the importance of standardization issues, and at the institutional level. 
8. The technical assistance being provided under the project is aimed to:  
• Increase awareness among the business community of the importance of standards and conformity 
assessment in international trade, especia lly in the context of the WTO TBT and SPS 
Agreements; 
• Establish Quality Management Systems ISO 9001 in several enterprises; 
• Establish Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems in several enterprises in the 
food sector; 
• Increase awareness among the business community of the importance of Environmental 
Management Systems;  
• Enable some testing and calibration laboratories to meet the international standard ISO/IEC 17025 
and to be accredited; 
• Establish and strengthen a national ISO 9001 certif ication body in accordance with international 
standards; 
• Determine needs in the area of metrology and e nhanced traceability of measurement standards; 
• Propose legislative and institutional infrastru cture for the national accreditation body.  
 
 
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