WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/COMTD/W/178 
15 June 2011  
 
(11-3002) 
Committee on Trade and Development  
  
 
ANNUAL REPORT ON TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING 
(1 JANUARY TO 31 DECEMBER 2010) 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 Page 
 
I.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 3  
II.  A BROAD OVERVIEW OF THE ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN ..................................... 4  
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROG RESSIVE LEARNING STRATEGY 
(PLS): E-LEARNING, GLOBAL AND THEMATIC TRAINING COURSES, 
REGIONAL TRADE POLICY COURSES, GENEVA-BASED TRAINING ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................... ....... 11 
A. 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLS ................................................................................................. 11  
B.  E-LEARNING : PLS  LEVELS 1 AND 2 ........................................................................................... 11  
C.  REGIONAL TRADE POLICY COURSES :  PLS  LEVEL 2 ................................................................. 14  
D.  GENEVA -BASED TRAINING ACTIVITIES : FOCUS ON PLS  LEVEL 3 ............................................ 16  
IV.  OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, ACADEMIC COOPERATION AND INTENSIVE 
COURSES ON TRADE NEGOTIATIONS SKILLS .......................................................... 21  
A.  OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS , PRIVATE SECTOR , MEDIA AND 
CIVIL SOCIETY  ........................................................................................................................... 21  
B.  ACADEMIC SUPPORT FOR TRAINING AND CAPACITY -BUILDING  ................................................ 22  
C.  INTENSIVE COURSE ON TRADE NEGOTIATIONS SKILLS  .............................................................. 24  
D.  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED UNDER ART. 27.2 ............................................................ 25  
V.  REGIONAL APPROACHES TO TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE AND PARTNERSHIPS ................................................................................ 26  
A.  AFRICA  .............................................................................................................................. ........ 26 
B.  ASIA PACIFIC  ............................................................................................................................. 28 
C.  ARAB COUNTRIES AND THE MIDDLE EAST ............................................................................... 29  
D.  CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA AND CAUCASUS COUNTRIES  .............. 30  
E.  LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN  ..................................................................................... 30  
VI.  TRAINEE PROGRAMMES AND INTERNSHIPS ............................................................ 33  
A.  NETHERLANDS TRAINEE PROGRAMME  ..................................................................................... 34  
B.  THE MISSION INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME  .................................................................................. 37  
C.  THE WTO  REGIONAL COORDINATOR INTERNSHIP  ................................................................... 39  
VII. REFERENCE CENTRES ...................................................................................................... 40  
VIII. THE GLOBAL TRADE-RELATED TECHNIC AL ASSISTANCE DATABASE ........... 43  
IX.  FINANCIAL SITUATION .................................................................................................... 44  
ANNEX 1 ....................................................................................................................... ....................... 46  WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 2  
 
  ANNEX 2 ....................................................................................................................... ....................... 49  
ANNEX 3 ....................................................................................................................... ....................... 50  
ANNEX 4 ....................................................................................................................... ....................... 51  
  WT/COMTD/W/178
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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  
1. In 2010 the WTO launched the process of in troducing Results Based Management (RBM) 
process in alignment with the monitoring and evaluation framework under the Aid for Trade programme.  The concept of RBM will gradually be incorporated into the design, management and 
delivery of WTO's trade CB programmes, thus streamlining activities and permitting a more 
systematic evaluation of the impact of these activities.  
2. The year 2010 was the first year where the changes in the institutional organization of 
Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (I TTC), were fully put into effect, including the 
strengthened coordination role of the Regional Desks.  Further progress was made in the rethinking of 
the training events, with particular emphasis be ing put on the gradual and progressive learning, 
referred to as 'progressive learning strategy (PLS)', with a clearer differentiation between the products, 
each being geared to attaining agreed objectives.  Th is has wider implications for the organization of 
events, the selection process of participants and the reporting.  Efforts were geared towards sensitizing 
beneficiaries of these changes and explain its rationale. 
3. The capacity of the ITTC to interact with bene ficiaries in all regions was reinforced, and the 
scope for coordination with regiona l and multilateral partners enhanced . The internal coordination of 
trade-related technical assistance (TRTA) programmes at all levels within the Secretariat has been 
assured through the Technical Assistance (TA) Coor dination Task Force.  The consultation process 
with the other agencies was strengthened throu gh the establishment of the Global Trade Related 
Technical Assistance Database (GTAD), which was o fficially launched by the Director General in 
November 2010 and with the presence of a dozen agen cies. A Steering Committee was set up to take 
collective responsibility of GTAD and give strategi c direction, to review its functioning, and 
determine the way forward, including possible e nhancements to better reach the GTAD's target 
audience. Brochures have been produced, and the GT AD systematically features in the programme of 
WTO RC activities.  During the year, several coordi nation meetings were he ld with the partner 
institutions to share information on upcoming activiti es and with a view of creating synergies between 
them.  
4. It is recalled that the main purpose of the Secretariat's trade capacity-building (CB) 
programmes, is to provide direct support to bene ficiaries enhancing their human and institutional 
capacities to deal with the challenges emerging from the multilateral trading system (MTS).  All the 
products and TRTA activities have been geared to wards achieving that objective and are regularly 
reviewed in light of that objective.  The Secretar iat's TRTA efforts are part of the broader Aid for 
Trade initiative and can be seen as the Secretariat' s contribution to the implementation of Aid for 
Trade.  In addition to providing a forum for regu lar review of Aid for Trade, the Secretariat is 
expected to make a solid input in the upcomi ng Global Aid for Trade Review in 2011 and has 
prepared a case story to that effect. 
5. In line with the priorities established in th e 2010-2011 Biennial Technical Assistance and 
Training Plan (WT/COMTD/W/170/Rev.1) (TA Plan), specific attention was given to three broad areas, including the accessions, notification and scheduling.  In practice this has tr anslated into special 
support in these fields, either in the form of nati onal and regional seminars and dedicated workshops.  
6. As a first element in the process of stre ngthening the concept of gradual learning, 
considerable efforts were pursued to not only re position and revamp eLearning within the means of 
delivery of TRTA, which permeates all other products, but also to make the online eLearning courses 
available all year round. In other words, now, an y participant accepted, once duly registered to the 
course, can start it any time during the year. This is considered a main improvement as it eliminates a 
major restraint.  Through eLearning the Secretaria t has been able to inco rporate the concept of WT/COMTD/W/178 
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  progressive learning ensuring that participation in  advanced WTO courses is premised on a full 
understanding of basic WTO concepts and principles.   
7. A second salient element continued to be the strengthening of the regional dimension of 
TRTA, by continuing working systematically with th e regional secretariats and partnering with field 
based agencies.  Over half of all activities are c onducted with partner agencies. This cooperation is 
being undertaken through a number of activities including the Regional Trade Policy Courses 
(RTPCs) that are organized and conducted with th e participation of regi onal and national academic 
institutions and experts.  The RTPCs are being re -engineered, so as to specifically bring out the 
regional dimension to trade policy formulation.  The role of regional economic communities and 
economic commissions and other relevant regional in stitutions in the delivery of TRTA will remain a 
central element of the WTO TRTA programme.  This regional approach to addressing capacity 
constraints is consistent with overall approach on aid for trade strategies. 
8. Thirdly, in line with recommendations, the Secr etariat continued to deliver on its outreach 
programmes, including its work with parliamentaria ns, private sector, media, civil society, academics 
and universities. A particular highlight was the launching of the WTO Chairs' Programme (WCP) by 
the Director-General, Spring 2010.  It triggered off  a series of missions to the 14 selected Universities 
in support of the official  launching by the Ch air holders. Also, during this period the TRTA 
reinforced its activities with parliamentarians and media, following the recommendations made by the 
Committee on Trade and Development (CTD). 
9. Fourthly, the Regional Desks in the ITTC, c ontinued their close interaction with the 
beneficiaries in all the regions and with the re gional partners to discuss the national and regional 
TRTA requirements, based on their needs assessments.   
10. Fifthly, the year 2010 saw a further consolida tion and strengthening the intern programmes, 
including the Netherlands Trainee Programme (NTP) and the Mission Intern Programme (MIP), which were very positively rated by  audit reports and seen as making a valuable contribution to the 
trade CB programmes.  These programmes have been found particularly welcome in light of the 
challenges that small delegations encounter in following the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) 
negotiations and being re presented at meetings. 
11. Sixthly, the Reference Centre (RC) Programme  has been re-launche d after a reflection 
process that led to the design of a new strategy , which includes more emphasis on enhancing local 
ownership, sharing of informati on between the WTO and the RCs as well as creating more interaction 
between the various centres, through the RC network, and a fuller and in-depth training of the RC 
managers in operating the centres and getting access to  all trade-related data.  It also includes an 
important component consisting of outsourcing of the procurement of the hardware, the installation of 
the RCs and the aspects related to maintenance. 
II. A BROAD OVERVIEW OF THE ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN 
12. This Report provides a brief qualitative and quan titative overview of the TA and training 
activities undertaken in the year 2010, as contained in the TA Plan.  The Report will cover eLearning, 
global training courses (RTPCs, Trade Policy Courses (TPCs), Academic programmes), followed by a discussion of the regional activities (seminars, work shops), trainee programmes and internships, RCs 
and the financial situation. Special attention was given to three broad areas, including accessions, scheduling and notifications, as detailed in boxes 1 and 2. 
13. The main objective that was pursued in the pr eparatory process of drafting the new TA Plan, 
which was adopted in November 2009, was to build  long-lasting human and institutional capacity and 
to enhance ownership.   It should be recalled that, to  ensure that such commitment could be met to the  WT/COMTD/W/178
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best of the Secretariat's and the recipients' ability , intensive consultations were held between the 
different stakeholders, in different formats, includi ng with all regional groupings, through the ITTC’s 
Regional Desks, as well as with the least-develope d countries (LDCs).  All the products were, as 
much as possible, tailored to the needs of the benefici aries.  Consultations also included partners such 
as regional development banks, and other international organizations, with a view to enhance the 
coordination, coherence and efficiency in the deliver y of the Secretariat's TRTA.  In addition, as in 
previous years, beneficiary countries were invite d to submit to the Secretariat, their requests for 
national TA at any time during the year, based on their individual needs assessments.  This approach 
was supplemented by direct contacts between the IT TC Regional Desks and local authorities, through 
their representations in Geneva, so as to fine-tune th e identification of priority areas for the countries.  
This further contributed to a timely delivery of TA  activities that were targeted and tailored to the 
needs identified.   
14. The WTO initiated the process of introducing the RBM process in alignment with the 
monitoring and evaluation framework under the Aid for Trade programme.  The concept of RBM will 
gradually be incorporated into the design, manage ment and delivery of WTO's trade CB programmes, 
thus streamlining activities and permitting a more systematic evaluation of the impact of these 
activities. Having a results framework and an adequa te reporting mechanism, woven into the TA Plan 
will assist in determining whether a positive contri bution has been made to building the capacity of 
beneficiary countries in trade policy matters and help ing them to derive significant benefits from the 
MTS.  The RBM approach is supporting the WTO in its continuous efforts towards improvement in 
results-orientation, focus, efficiency and accountability.  
15. Efforts undertaken by the Secretariat since 2009 to  implement the Institute's new strategy led 
to the introduction of the progressive learning appr oach, which was explained in the TA Plan.  The 
content of Geneva-based TPCs and field based RTPCs was fundamentally reviewed, and the last Geneva-based regular TPC implemented in the first pa rt of the year, gave way to the First Advanced 
Trade Policy Course (ATPC) in the Autumn.  As mentioned earlier, coor dination of TRTA was 
further strengthened, especially through the region al desks, both within the Secretariat and with 
Members and international agencies.  The reinfo rcement of the Secretariat's academic programmes 
culminated through the WTO Chairs programme, which was launched officially in Geneva and 
Barcelona in May 2010.   
16. The MIP was strengthened by the joining of France to long-time MIP funders like Ireland and 
previously Denmark, which enabled the number of inte rns to be  considerably  increased in 2010.  At 
the regional level, conscious of the risk of duplication of activities in the field of TRTA, and of the 
limited resources available, the Secretariat intensif ied the utilization of partnership arrangements with 
other institutions.  Thus, more than half of all re gional events were conducted in close co-operation 
with a partner agency.   
17. The visibility of the Secretariat's activities and lines of communication with the stakeholders 
were enhanced:  In addition to the circulation of the bi-monthly Newsletter, to provide a more 
interactive tool to which other agencies could activ ely contribute, the GTAD, was officially launched 
by Director-General Pascal Lamy in November 2010. 
18. Building on past experience, the Secretariat h as continued using all opportunities to explain 
the features of the TA Plan and beneficiaries' entitlements, and to draw their attention to how TA can be requested, both in Geneva and in the regions.  Short presentations on TRTA were made in different 
settings, explaining to Members and participants in TA events the state-of-play in the implementation 
and providing specific information on the programm es. This effort in communication was undertaken 
between all stakeholders:  the regional desks of the I TTC continued to interact with beneficiaries, to 
ensure that the proposed TRTA would meet th e countries' needs and requirements and in close 
coordination with the line divisions in the Secretaria t, with whom they ensured that the right terms 
and conditions for successful TRTA were set.  TRTA further featured prominently on the agenda of WT/COMTD/W/178 
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  the Geneva Week, so as to explain to non-reside nts the possibilities to benefit from WTO programmes 
and consulting them on their needs and priorities.    
19. Back-to-Office Reports (BTORs) are systematical ly completed after each TA-related event.  
This reporting process highlights the main features and monitors the quality in the delivery of the 
activities.  Through this internal monitoring tool, activities are assessed and systematically analysed 
by the Technical Cooperation Audit Unit (TCAU), who follows-up with recommendations for future 
similar events.   
20. The present report will focus on activities implem ented over a twelve-month period in 2010. 
Activities which were of significantly different dur ations, varying between one day to 12 weeks and 
may have involved as little as one WTO official, or as many as over two dozen for the longer training 
courses, or the tutoring of interns, doctoral studies and research collabor ation programmes.  In 
addition, it should be noted that the number of par ticipants varied from one activity to another.  As 
highlighted above, a majority of these activities were organized in partnership with other international 
organizations or regional secretar iats or financial institutions, su ch as the United Nations Economic 
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESC AP), the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), the Organisation 
internationale de la francophonie (OIF), and others.  Finally, statistics will show the emphasis on 
providing assistance to Africa and more specifica lly to LDCs, whose integration into the MTS 
remains a priority for the WTO.  The report provides detailed information about the activities 
undertaken, the specific means of delivery and the beneficiary countries, from January to December 
2010. 
21. To achieve the goal of sustainable CB and in line with expectations, a total of 279 field-based 
events (189 national and 90 regional  activities) were implemented ove r the period under review. In 
addition, 58 so-called global events, which cannot be  allocated to a specific region, included Geneva-
based training activities as well as topic-specific workshops and eLearning courses.  Thus, 337 TRTA activities were implemented in 2010.  WTO officials provided their inputs and expertise in an additional 97 conferences and meetings  to which the Secretariat was invited to participate.  The slight 
decrease in the implementation of activities, compar ed to the year 2009 (a little over 5 per cent), is 
mainly due to the smaller number of regional and gl obal events undertaken last year, while a modest 
increase (2 per cent ) could be observed in the implementation of national activities over the same 
period.  Following the approach that was adopted in 2009, in order to have each specific programme 
reported as one entry, and not on the number of beneficiaries, the intern programmes (NTP, MIP, 
Regional Coordinator Internship Programme (RCI) are each counted once.  In addition, the report 
does not include EIF or STDF-related activities, unl ess they directly involved the participation of 
WTO staff.   
22. Taking into account the constituency of each region, a balance in the distribution of the TA 
activities was maintained (cf Table 1 and Graph 1).  The majority of activities were held in Africa 
(129), representing 30 per cent of WTO's TRTA, followed by Asia and Pacific (81), representing 19 
per cent of all.  A total of 54 activities were organized for Latin America (12 per cent), 35 for the 
Central and Eastern Europe Central Asia and the Caucasus (CEECAC) (8 per cent, 23 for the Arab and Middle-East countries (5 per cent), and 20 for the Caribbean (5 per cent).  It should be noted that 
LDCs have been associated with over 43 per cent of all activities.  This includes national activities 
held in LDCs (51) as well as regional seminars, workshops and training activities in which LDCs 
participated.   
23. In terms of national versus regional activities, it can be observed that a total of 189 activities 
were held at the national level and 148 activities we re regional and global ev ents.  This trend is 
consistent with the notion that more targeted TRTA is  required at the national level.  In addition, some 
97 activities consisted of WTO's participation in ac tivities organized by other agencies and to which  WT/COMTD/W/178
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the Secretariat was asked to make a contribution, as well as WTO's representation in trade-related conferences, symposia and high-level meetings.   
24. The total number of regional and global activities undertaken includes WTO's regional 
workshops and seminars, preparatory workshops fo r the RTPCs, the eLearning modules, as well as 
regional events that were proposed under partnershi p arrangements with other agencies and bodies, at 
which each institution provided a specific input, such as Short Trade Policy Courses (STPCs) or 
Advanced Training Programmes for Senior Governme nt officials with, for example, the OIF, the 
Inter-American Development Bank / In stitute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean 
(IADB/INTAL), the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Organization of American States (OAS), or the UNESCAP.  
Examples of the considerable number of activities undertaken as part of partnership arrangements 
with other agencies that the WTO cooperates w ith are discussed further in the report.   
25. The logistical and administrative arrangements,  as well as the human resource inputs and the 
cost relating to the regional seminars, the three-mont h TPC and ATPC, held either in Geneva or in the 
RTPCs in the regions, are highly demanding, and part nerships with regional or local institutions can 
contribute to reducing the demand on the Secretariat, both in terms of resources and timing. 
26. In line with the Doha Declaration, priority a ttention continued to be given to LDCs with a 
view to facilitating their full integration into the M TS.  Not only is this confirmed with the absolute 
and relative numbers, i.e. the frequency with which LDCs have been associated with TRTA, but this 
is also expressed through the products, several of wh ich are specifically and/or largely geared towards 
LDCs.  Last year, LDCs benefited from 43.2 per cen t of all WTO TRTA activities.  Out of the 189 
national activities that were held, 51 took place in LD Cs.  With respect to regional seminars, LDCs 
participated in 67 out of a total of 90 activities th at were organized (74 per cent).  They also were 
associated with 48 global activities that were organi zed (over 82 per cent).  In addition, LDCs were 
given priority in our internship programmes, i.e. the NIP and the MIP.  Last year, out of the 13 NTPs, ten came from LDCs.  Out of the 16 MIPs, nine came from LDCs.  Conscious of the capacity 
constraints of LDC and other de veloping country missions in Geneva, the Secretariat is positively 
predisposed to making available interns to assist  countries which may be coordinating a regional 
grouping such as the LDC Group, the African Group or the Cotton-Four.  With the introduction of the progressive learning strategy, and to ensure that  LDCs have the same exposure to it as other 
developing countries, the Secretariat continued to hold two Introduction Cour ses in Geneva in 2010, 
to enable them to participate in Level 2 activiti es.  Internet and CD-based training materials were 
made available on a continuous basis, to help LDCs overcome interconnectivity problems and other 
challenges.  Least-developed count ries were also given priority under the new strategy for RCs, and 
five out of nine RCs were established in an LDCs, to further assist them, and more particularly those 
without a representation in Geneva to keep abreast of WTO-related issues.  Government officials in 
LDCs and other developing countries, used the facilities to complete as many online eLearning 
courses as possible in order to fully benefit from th e introduction of the progressive learning strategy.  
It should be noted that, to make activities more re levant for LDCs, the ITTC has been working with 
LDCs to assess their TRTA needs, and it was agains t that background that priority was given to 
accessions, notifications, and scheduling in the TA Plan .  It should be furthe r highlighted that LDCs 
will continue to be the primary beneficiaries of the WTO's TRTA programme, not least through their 
entitlement to three national activities under the TA Plan. WT/COMTD/W/178 
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Table 1:  Trade-Related Technical Assistance by Region in 2010 (1 January to 31 December) 
 
TRTA BY REGION National TA Regional Global(
1) Other 
(Conferences etc.) Total 
Africa 75 40% 29 32% 25 26% 129 30%
Arab and Middle East countries 12 6% 8 9% 3 3% 23 5%
Asia and Pacific economies 43 23% 22 24% 16 16% 81 19%
Central and Eastern  Europe, Central 
Asia and the Caucasus 16 8% 10 11% 9 9% 35 8%
Caribbean countries 14 7% 5 5% 1 1% 20 5%
Latin America 29 15% 16 17% 9 9% 54 12%
Sub-Total 189 100% 90 100% 63 65% 342 79%
Global 58 34 35% 92 21%
Total 189 100% 90 100% 58 97 100% 434 100%
(1) Activities under the TRTA Global region include those that are not  targeted at a specific region, such as the Geneva-based 
courses and topic-specific workshops and symposia, distance lear ning, internship programmes a nd the advisory role on legal 
issues – dispute settlement unde rstanding (DSU) - Article 27.2. 
 
 
  
 
Graph 1:  Trade-Related Technical Assistance by Region in 2010 
 
 
  WT/COMTD/W/178
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Graph 2:  Trade-Related Technical Assistance by Region in 2009 and 2010 
 
 
 
 
 
Box 1  
Accessions – Technical Assistance an d Capacity Building, and Outreach 
Accessions-related TA has been designed around several key elements.  The starting point is to build 
capacity on accessions substance, process and pr ocedures.  As the pr ocess advances, there are 
packages for workshops with Parliamentarians, eng agement with the media, raising awareness, and 
responding to questions on the value of WTO Memb ership.  There are also dedicated activities for 
private sector support, in coordination w ith the International Trade Centre (ITC). 
In 2010, several modalities were deployed in the de livery of TA and CB.  These included: national 
and regional seminars, workshops, technical missions , Working Party Chairpersons' visits, briefings 
and e-communication.  The e-training module on WT O accession has been available on the Website 
since 2009.  Accession training modules have also been included in the WTO TPCs (Geneva-based 
and regional).  In the year under revi ew, for the first time, a specific  workshop was organized to assist 
an acceding government at the initial stage, to desi gn its Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime.  
The workshop also focussed on promoting WTO awaren ess within the government and assisting in the 
assessment of further TA needs. 
Acceding governments participated in over 140 WTO TA activities and benefited from a dozen 
accessions-specific TA activities. For example, in cooperation with the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), 
a regional seminar on WTO Accessions for Arab an d Middle-Eastern governments was organized in 
September 2010.  The seminar provided a platfo rm for the eight acceding governments from the 
region to share accession experienc es, identify challenges, and en gage with AMF country economists 
and WTO Secretariat experts.  Throughout the year,  national activities were undertaken in response 
to individual requests from acceding governments (with  a priority accorded to the LDCs), based on 
their specific TA needs.  
 
           ( c o n t ' d )  WT/COMTD/W/178 
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  A major challenge for acceding governments is bu ilding and sustaining broad support for trade 
opening.  Multilateral institutions, in partnership with WTO Members, provid e assistance to acceding 
governments to address this challenge.  The WTO Se cretariat also participates in outreach, including 
national activities and Working Party Chairperson's visits .  The Secretariat also continues to promote 
inter-agency partnerships with other organizations a nd specialized agencies and in 2010 participated 
in events organized jointly with the Enhanced In tegrated Framework (EIF), the ITC and United 
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).   
To further bolster outreach and assistance to acced ing governments, in 2010 a monthly "Accessions 
Newsletter" was initiated to provide acceding governme nts with regular information that would assist 
them manage their accession pro cess with the WTO Membership.  Th is includes encouraging these 
governments to take a more active interest in ot her Accession Working Parties.  The Director-
General's Annual Report on WTO Accessions has now been regularized and institutionalized.  The 
Report is prepared around a thematic focus that provides useful information and sound substantive 
advice to enhance the ability of acceding government s to more efficiently and rapidly navigate their 
accession process.  
 
Box 2 
 
Technical Assistance Activities in 2010 – Impetus on Scheduling and Notifications . 
 
Scheduling 
 Since mid-2009 all non-agricultural market access (N AMA) TA activities where Integrated Database 
(IDB) staff contributed have included presentatio ns and practical exercises on scheduling.  This 
included regional and national NAMA workshops as well as RTPCs.  The prac tical exercises covered 
normally a 2 hour session where participants had the opportunity to practice how current draft 
modalities could be translated into electronic co mprehensive draft schedul es based on the proposed 
draft electronic negotiating files.  The schedu ling exercises provided an excellent opportunity to 
familiarize capital based experts w ith the detailed technical work that will have to be done once 
modalities are finalized.  Participants had mostly ve ry positive feedback on the scheduling part of the 
workshops. For future TA activities we consider tho ugh that training on scheduling can be more 
focussed and better appreciated in national works hops where the Member's ow n NAMA modality can 
be used as the example and the presentation can really be tailored to the Member's particular 
situation. 
Notifications 
 
It should be recalled that TA was explicitly menti oned when the notification of tariff and detailed 
import statistics to the IDB was appr oved by Members (see WT/L/225). 
 
Presentations on notifications to the IDB have alwa ys been an integral part of all NAMA TA 
activities, RTPCs and some specialized workshops.  Si nce the explanation of the submission formats is 
quite straightforward the training was in the form  of presentations and in the review of data submitted 
by participants.  In a number of cases it also invo lved direct contact with and visits to national 
agencies, ministries, customs authorities and/or na tional statistical offices.  Participants always 
appreciate the hands-on session on the market access dat abases' online applications and they realize 
that full compliance with IDB notification requi rements would make these  databases even more 
useful.  Gaps in IDB submissions are always highlighted by the WTO and noted by participants themselves for their respective c ountry.  In some cases – and this is mentioned in the letters of 
invitation – recent data is provided as notifications by the participants.              ( c o n t ' d )   WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 11 
 
 
Since July 2009 when a new framework for data coll ection of IDB notifications was approved "TA" is 
also provided to delegations in Geneva by identifying sources of in formation (in national websites or 
in information provided to other regional or int ernational organizations) that could be used as 
notifications.  These concerted efforts have led to a si gnificant increase in submission to the IDB.      
 
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRE SSIVE LEARNING STRATEGY (PLS): E-
LEARNING, GLOBAL AND THEMATIC TRAINING COURSES, REGIONAL TRADE POLICY COURSES, GENEVA-BASED TRAINING ACTIVITIES 
A. 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLS   
27. In 2010, the ITTC continued to put in place clear and coherent WTO training paths based on 
the PLS:  a progressive, multi-modular approach, e xploiting synergies among training products and 
programmes.  The primary aim of the PLS is to pr omote higher levels of learning and to encourage 
the development of participants' autonomy, with a view to building and sustaining the long-lasting 
human and institutional capacity of beneficiary countr ies to participate most effectively in the rules-
based MTS.1  
28. Along with the realignment and improvement in the design and content of face-to-face 
training activities, online eLearning -- both as a trai ning tool and as a selection tool -- functioned as a 
key element in the PLS.   
B. E-LEARNING : PLS  LEVELS 1 AND 2 
1. Overview 
29. WTO eLearning aims at providing online training on  matters related to international trade and 
WTO Agreements to government officials from TA  recipient governments.  In particular, the 
eLearning programme aims to give participants a homogeneous and st rengthened understanding of the 
MTS; enhanced knowledge of the basic principles of the WTO and the legal structure of the WTO 
Agreements; and improved capability to interpre t relevant information and documents on WTO-
related issues, as well as to use the WTO le gal texts and legal background material.   
30. The progressive learning approach involves the seq uencing of products in order to improve 
the delivery of TRTA, with a view to gradually and progressively moving to higher levels of learning.  
Progressive learning is an important element in the eLearning Programme, with online courses - introduction courses and courses on specific trade -related topics - being a pre-requisite for 
participation in more advanced online and face-to-f ace technical assistance activ ities.  The objective is 
to ensure that participation in courses with hi gher levels of learning is premised on a full 
understanding of basic WTO concepts and principles as well as of the main provisions of the Agreements.   
31. This approach continued to be used in the 2010 eLearning Programme and was strengthened 
further.  In 2010, candidates we re required to successfully complete an online Introduction Course on 
the WTO on the basic principles of the MTS and th e main disciplines of WTO Agreements before 
they could be selected to participate in higher levels of learning.  Online PLS Levels 1 and 2 
eLearning courses were used, as appropriate, as a prere quisite for participation in RTPCs, in Geneva-
based advanced generalist and thematic cour ses and in a number of regional seminars.   
                                                      
1 Annex I contains a diagram of PLS training paths.  WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 12  
 
  2. Delivery 
32. In 2010,  a total of 25 eLearning courses were offered ( 13 in English, six in French and six in 
Spanish) on the distance-learning platform.  Course s were clustered in 8 different sessions.  Each 
session lasted from six to eight weeks and was deliver ed in one of the three WTO official languages. 
Table 2:  Number of Online Courses Held in  the Three Official Languages, 2007-2010 
 
Year Number of courses held Number of courses held, by language 
(English=E, French=F, Spanish=S) 
2007 18 E=10; F=4; S=4 
2008 27 E=16; F=6; S=5 
2009 27 E=14; F=9; S=4 
2010 25 E=13; F=6; S=6 
 
33. In 2010, two new courses – launched in 2009 in English – were translated into French and 
Spanish and prepared for online use in the 2010 course catalogues: a course on trade in services (PLS 
Level 2) and a more advanced course (PLS Level 2) covering the WTO Agreements and the main 
trade-related cross-cutting subjects (Multilate ral Trade Agreements (MTAs) and the WTO2).  In 
addition, the training material for an additional course on market access was finalized in English and formatted for Web-use.  The course will be availa ble in the 2011 course catalogue in English.  In 
2010, the online course programme incl uded the following available courses:  
(a) Progressive Learning Strategy Level 1 
- Introduction to the WTO 
 (b) Progressive Learning Strategy Level 2 
- Trade-Related Aspects of Inte llectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 
- Trade Remedies 
- Agriculture in WTO 
- Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)  - Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) - Trade in Services - Multilateral Trade Agreements and the WTO
3 
 
34. Substantive progress in the development of tw o other courses, on trade and environment and 
on Market Access issues and NAMA negotiations, was made in 2010, with a view to finalizing and 
launching both training courses in 2011.   
35. A total of 3060 participants participated in an online course in 2010, among which 1070 from 
Africa, 1058 from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), 660 from Asia and the Pacific, 344 from 
the Arab and Middle-East region and 163 from CEEC AC.  Following website disruptions experienced 
in 2009, the  number of selected online participants  was monitored in 2010 to ensure that the number 
of simultaneous website users did not go beyond the distance-learning platform capacities and 
therefore provide adequate participants in onlin e courses held in parallel with adequate website 
performances 
                                                      
2 This online course was formerly entitled "e WTO: the Multilateral Trade Agreements".  
3 This online course was formerly entitled "e WTO: the Multilateral Trade Agreements".   WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 13 
 
 
 
Graph 3:  Number of Participants in Online Courses, 2007-2010 
 
0500100015002000250030003500400045005000
2007 2008 2009 2010  
 
 
Graph 4: Participants by Region, 2007-2010 
 
0200400600800100012001400
Africa Asia and
PacificLatin
America
and
Caribbean Arab and
Middle-
EastCentral
and
Eastern
Europe Central
Asia2007
2008
2009
2010
 
 
36. In 2010, participation of LDCs in the onlin e course programme was strongly encouraged.  
The number of participants from LDCs rose from 1 95 in 2007 to 700 in 2010.  The percentage of 
LDC participants among the total number of eLearni ng participants reached a 23 per cent share in 
2010.  43 LDCs out of 50 benefited from the online c ourse programme and participated in at least one 
online activity last year. 
Table 3:  Percentage of Participants from Least -Developed Countries in WTO E-Learning, 2007-2010 
 
 2007 2008 2009 2010 
Percentage LDCs/Total number of participants 11% 10% 19% 23% 
 
 WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 14  
 
  Graph 5:  Number of Participants from LCDs, 2007-2010 
 
 
0100200300400500600700800900
2007 2008 2009 2010
 
 
 
3. Self-Training Courses 
37. In 2010, a number of self-training modules covering a wide range of WTO topics (overview 
of the WTO, legal and economic underpinnings, di spute settlement, SPS measur es, trade in services, 
accessions, trade facilitation, trade and finance, etc.) were available online through the WTO 
Webpage on distance learning, the eLearni ng Website and on CD-Rom or DVD.   
38. The modules were accessible fr ee of charge and open to all Website users.  Each module 
included theory and exercises through multiple choice questions with an automatic correction 
mechanism.   
C. REGIONAL TRADE POLICY COURSES :  PLS  LEVEL 2 
39. Regional Trade Policy Courses are classified as a PLS Level 2 training activity on the 
"generalist" training path. 
40. Four RTPCs were implemented in 2010: one in  partnership with the Universidad Sergio 
Arboleda (Colombia) for Latin America; one with th e National University of Singapore (NUS) for the 
Asia-Pacific region; one in partne rship with the University of Swaziland for English-speaking Africa; 
and one in partnership with l'Université d'Abomey -Calavi (Benin) for French-speaking Africa.  Four 
RTPC preparatory workshops were also held at the WTO in 2010. As usual, the purpose of the 
workshop was to bring together the academics w ho would be co-delivering the RTPC with WTO 
officials for a three-day update and meetings. Th e Preparatory Workshop for the Latin America RTPC 
took place at the WTO in December 2009.   
41. 2010 was the second year of partnership for both  the Universidad Sergio Arboleda and the 
University of Swaziland, while it was the third year  of partnership for l'Université d'Abomey-Calavi 
(Benin) and the fourth and final year of the RTPC partnership with NUS for the Asia Pacific RTPC.  
42. There were a number of highlights for the R TPC programme during 2010, specifically, the 
successful conclusion of a four-year RTPC partne rship with NUS; the agreement of the Director-
General to extend the RTPC partnerships with Univ ersidad Sergio Arboleda, University of Swaziland 
and  l'Université d'Abomey-Calavi for a fourth y ear; the selection of the Centre for WTO Studies at  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 15 
 
 
the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) as the new partner for the 2011 RTPC for Asia Pacific; 
the expansion of the paperless RTPC to all the part nerships in 2010, and finally, the impact of the 
enhancement of the progressive learning strategy on the structure and content of the RTPC.   
43. The WTO RTPC partnership with NUS drew to a successful close with the 2010 edition of 
the RTPC.  This was the first RTPC partnership to  have been extended to four years and followed a 
re-evaluation of the optimal length of RTPC pa rtnerships by senior management in 2009 which 
introduced flexibility in determining whether a partne rship should last for three or four years. The 
RTPC partnership with NUS was very successful.  Throughout the four-year partnership NUS showed 
its inherent strength as a partner, with the very valuable input of  two academic coordinators of 
extremely high calibre and commitment; through providing excellent on-site management of the 
course; through the consistent support of the management and Law Faculty members of NUS, 
together with the support and involvement of th e Singapore government. Over the four years, the 
RTPC product was greatly enhanced through the pa rtnership with NUS as valuable lessons were 
learned about the content and delivery of the RTPC .  WTO will continue to work with NUS on post-
RTPC activities. 
44. Also during 2010, the Director-General, r esponded positively to requests from the three 
current RTPC partners, Universidad Sergio Arbol eda (Colombia), the University of Swaziland and 
l'Université d'Abomey-Calavi (Benin) for an extension of the RTPC partnerships to four years.  Each 
university identified specific objectives that they  hope to achieve through the extension of the 
partnership.  
45. The selection process for a new partner for the 2011 Asia-Pacific RTPC was carried out in 
2010. An open and transparent process was launched in February 2010 in wh ich universities in Asia-
Pacific were invited to submit proposals for part nering on the RTPC.  A total of 12 proposals were 
received which were short-listed by the WTO Selection Committee to six candidates. As part of the selection process, members of the Selection Committ ee visited each of the short-listed candidates. 
Following a detailed review of the candidates, which were of very high quality, the Director-General 
announced the selection of the Centre for WTO Studi es at the IIFT as partner for the 2011Asia-Pacific 
RTPC. 
46. The "virtual classroom", or electronic resource- sharing platform, was first introduced in 
RTPCs in 2009 thanks to the initiative of our Lati n American RTPC partners Universidad Sergio 
Arboleda, and it has now spread to all RTPCs with, for the first time in 2010, the virtual classrooms 
being used in the African RTPCs (thanks to the technical support of Universidad Sergio Arboleda). 
The virtual classroom changed the way in whic h RTPCs were delivered in 2010 by totally 
overhauling the way the course was conceived, prepared , delivered and assimilated.  By storing all the 
training material for the course electronically in one place, participants now had complete access to their entire library of training material at any give n time.  The use of the electronic environment made 
it much easier for participants to manipulate the ma terial than was possible with paper documentation.  
The trainers, too, having access to the virtual classr oom, were able to see what has been covered in 
other topics, allowing them to refine and nuance their own material, as required, to increase its 
coherence with the overall course (even simply by  reducing repetition and re inforcing linkages to 
other modules). The autonomous aspect of the virtua l classroom reinforced the need for trainers to 
prepare a clear, structured programme for thei r modules which defined the objectives and content, 
allowing participants to easily navi gate the training material on the virtual classroom. As a result, in 
2010, RTPC co-trainers worked more closely toge ther in preparing their programmes and defining 
each other's role and the RTPC has b ecome a more integrated package. WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 16  
 
  47. As part of the development of the PLS in 201 0, the RTPC Unit reviewed the content and 
delivery methodology of the RTPCs (level 2 training activity for generalists) in order to align them 
with the newly introduced ATPC (level 3 traini ng activity for generalists). This alignment was 
necessary to ensure coherence and progressivity in the design and the implementation of the two 
products.  During 2010 the RTPC Unit was involved in extensive discussions on a secretariat-wide 
basis to clarify the alignment and the outcome was that as of 2010, RTPCs reinforced their focus on 
providing a substantial and comp rehensive coverage of the WTO Agreements, as well as an 
introduction to the DDA, while retaining their fo cus on regional and develo pment challenges. The 
ATPC would go on to provide more in-depth covera ge of the WTO Agreements, as well as a more in-
depth overview of the DDA negotiations, with a focus on implementation. As a result of the 
realignment there should be a clear progression betw een the content and delivery methodology of the 
RTPCs and the ATPCs ensuring that beneficiaries bu ild cumulatively on the knowledge and skills of 
each progressive level to allow them to conduct WTO work.  
48. The ITTC continued its practice of appointi ng an official Patroness for each RTPC, who 
through her own experience and e xpertise provided inspiration, guidance and leadership to the 
participants in these Courses. The Colombian RTPC valued the patronage of Dra. María Fernanda 
Campo, President of Colombia Chamber of Co mmerce. In Singapore, Ms Chong Siak Ching, 
President/CEO of Ascendas, honoured the participants  by being Patroness of the RTPC.  The RTPC in 
Swaziland had the privilege of the Patronage of Ms . Sibongile G. Mdluli, Deputy Governor of the 
Central Bank of Swaziland for the second year , while Mrs Rékyath Madougou, Minister of 
Microfinance, Youth and Women's Employment, honour ed the participants of the RTPC in Benin 
with her patronage. In each case, the Patroness me t with the RTPC participants, discussed her 
professional experience with them and encouraged th e participants to benefit to the maximum from 
their participation in the RTPC a nd to work to strengthen the MTS. 
D. G
ENEVA -BASED TRAINING ACTIVITIES : FOCUS ON PLS  LEVEL 3  
1. Overview 
49. Geneva-based training activities draw upon a rich  tradition with a steady record of success 
spanning over fifty years.  In 2010, the WTO Secretar iat delivered a series of training activities as part 
of its Geneva-based training programme.  These courses were conducted under the responsibility of 
the Geneva-Based Courses Unit (GBCU) of the ITTC, in collaboration with officials from other Secretariat divisions.   
50. During this year, the Geneva-based course curricu lum continued its re-orientation in line with 
the PLS to focus on the design and delivery of advan ced (PLS level 3) training activities in both the 
"generalist" and "specialist" PLS paths.  Ra nging in length from one week to three months
4, these 
Geneva-based training activities included the first ATPC5 and advanced thematic courses on particular 
WTO-related topics (i.e. dispute settleme nt, agriculture, SPS, TBT and TRIPs).6  In order to ensure 
the effectiveness of the PLS, prerequisites (in the form of eLearning, other face-to-face training 
activities and/or commensurate knowledge or experience)  were imposed in respect of more advanced 
activities.  In parallel with this advanced emphasis, attention to the particular needs and interests of 
LDCs continued in Geneva:  two Introduction Courses for LDCs (PLS Level 1) took place at the 
                                                      
4 A total of 262 government officials – 139 men and 123 women – participated in 2010 Geneva-based 
one-week to three-month training activities.   
5 The long-standing flagship of Geneva-based training activities has, until mid-2010, been the 
comprehensive twelve-week TPC.  Following the final (49th) TPC, which took place from January to April 
2010, the transition was made to the ATPC.  The first ATPC took place from September to December 2010.   
6 In addition, advanced WTO/Food and Agriculture  Organization (FAO) Rules capacity-building took 
place in conjunction with the Negotia ting Group on Rules in 2010.   WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 17 
 
 
WTO Headquarters in Geneva in 2010, one in Engl ish and one in French.  Three Introduction Days 
rounded out the Geneva-based curriculum.   
51. Geneva-based training courses provide an opportu nity for participants to have first-hand 
exposure to, and on-site experience of, the functioning of the WTO.  These activities derive full benefit from numerous attributes inhe rent and unique to the Geneva location at the heart of the WTO 
and its Secretariat.  This offers an authoritativ e and comprehensive platform for the delivery of 
training and includes certain special features such  as attending meetings of WTO bodies (e.g., General 
Council, CTD, the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB), the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), accession Working Parties, etc.), updates on DDA negotiating issues and "Round Table"-type discussions (featuring, for example, Geneva-based Co mmittee chairpersons, delegates, and Secretariat 
staff dealing with a particular trade or negotia ting topic) and exposure to other international 
institutions in Geneva active in tr ade-related matters.  Contacts with officials in the WTO Secretariat 
and other international organizations – including ITC, UNCTAD, the Agency for International Trade 
Information and Cooperation (AITIC) the World Bank, the Advisory Centre for WTO Trade Law (ACWL) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) - as well as delegates from 
Geneva Missions and from capitals, and speakers fr om NGOs and think tanks have been a dynamic 
and rewarding feature.  An additional and important  feature of Geneva-based courses is their global 
reach, by bringing together participants from all gl obal regions which encourages the sharing of best 
practices beyond the regional contexts.  
52. In order to maximize the effectiveness of its  face-to-face training activities, the pedagogical 
approach followed in Geneva-based training activ ities continues to evolve toward resolutely 
interactive and participatory training.  Moreove r, these training activities constitute synergistic 
laboratories for the development and continuous updating and adaptation of training materials and 
modules.  The material generated is then made widely available in order to support other WTO 
training and capacity-building activities.   
2. Advanced (Progressive Learning Strategy Level 3) Training Activities  
(i) Generalist Path: the new Adv anced Trade Policy Course  
53. In terms of the PLS "generalist" path , the year 2010 witnessed the final (49
th) TPC and the 
inauguration of the WTO's first three-month ATPC , the most advanced comprehensive training 
activity under the WTO's training umbrella.  Completi on of a Level 2 "generalist" activity (i.e. RTPC, 
TPC, eWTO online eLearning) was a prerequisite for selection for the first ATPC.  Twenty four participants were selected out of approx. 100 applications received. 
Graph 6:  Prerequisites of the participants in the 1
st Advanced Trade Policy Course in Geneva7 
 
                                                      
7 TPC: 10 participants; RTPC: 9 participants;  eWTO : 7 participants (2 participants completed both a 
TPC and online eLearning  eWTO). WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 18  
 
  54. The ATPC aims to promote a higher level of learning and to encourage the development of 
participants' autonomy to conduct WTO-related work .  The ATPC culminates in the completion and 
presentation of an individual project by the participants on a trade -related topic of their choice.
8  In 
addition to completing the project, the participants are exposed to the different areas of WTO work 
through the consideration, not only of the legal asp ects of the WTO Agreements and use of certain 
trade policy instruments, but also the economic im plications of implementing the Agreements and 
making use of these instruments.  This is largely achieved by encouraging 'learning by doing' through 
shifting the focus from lecture-based teaching to interactive teaching methods including case studies 
and exercises.  For the first time in a Geneva-based  course and in line with the Director-General's 
initiative towards a 'paperless' Secr etariat, each participant was provided with a laptop for use over the 
three-month period to enable access to a 'virtual classroom' in which all documentation was available 
as well as to facilitate completion of the individual projects.   
55. The ITTC continued to appoint an official Patron for each TPC, to provide inspiration, 
guidance and leadership to the participants.  The Patron for the 49th TPC was H.E. Ambassador Karen 
Tan of Singapore. Ambassador Tan me t with the participants on several occasions, allowing them to 
benefit from her perspectives, drawn from her many and various experiences working in an 
international environment.  She highlighted the experience of Singapore in the MTS, underlining the 
importance of TA and CB in that context.  The Patron of the 1st ATPC was H.E. Ambassador Venetia 
Sebudandi of Rwanda, who shared her perspect ives and experience as a busy Geneva-based 
Ambassador of an LDC, responsible not only for WT O matters, but also for UN  and related agencies.  
She praised the participants of the first ATPC fo r their hard work and commitment during their three-
month stay in Geneva.   
(ii) Specialist Path: Advan ced Thematic Courses 
56. In terms of the PLS "specialist" path, the year  2010 also saw the delivery of five advanced 
thematic activities, ranging from one to three 3 weeks in duration, addressing: Agriculture, TBT, 
Dispute Settlement, SPS and TRIPS (the latter conducte d jointly with WIPO).  Hallmarks of these 
activities include:  a rigorous selection process, screening candidates on the basis of successful 
completion of online or face-to-face training activ ities and/or demonstrably commensurate knowledge 
or professional experience; active involvement of the international trade community in Geneva; and 
an emphasis on more interactive sessions, comp rising exercises, case studies and simulations.   Such 
interactive pedagogical tools aim to  consolidate the knowledge already transferred in earlier training 
steps, and to encourage participants to develop their conceptual understanding of the topic and their 
autonomy to analyse and critically assess issues th rough active application of their knowledge.   
(iii) Advanced Agriculture Course  
57. The Agriculture and Commodities Division (AGCD)  and the ITTC organized jointly the first 
Geneva-based Advanced Course on the Agreem ent on Agriculture, which took place at WTO 
Headquarters, in Geneva, from 8 to12 March 2010.   Twenty-three participants representing both 
developing (20) and deve loped (three) countries9 participated in the Course.  This ensured a rich 
variety of perspectives and experiences.  The primar y goals of the Course were to explore issues of 
monitoring and surveillance in the context of the Ag reement on Agriculture and to develop analytical 
skills based on WTO database tools.  The Course consisted of interactive sessions including case 
studies and a hands-on notification exercise which enab led the participants to put their knowledge of 
                                                      
8 As mentioned above, the content and delivery methods of RTPCs (PLS level 2 training activity for 
generalists) and ATPCs (PLS level 3 training activity for generalists) were re-aligned on a secretariat-wide basis 
with a view to ensuring that beneficiaries build cumulatively on the knowledge and skills of each progressive 
level to allow them to conduct WTO work.   
9 The latter on a self-financing basis.  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 19 
 
 
the Agreement on agriculture into practise.  In orde r to provide participants with the necessary tools 
for completing the case studies, time was dedicate d to familiarising them with the IDB and the 
Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database.  The participants also had the opportunity to attend a 
meeting of the Regular Session of the Committee on Agriculture as well as to benefit from the 
knowledge and expertise of Geneva-based dele gates who participated in a Roundtable on 
Transparency in Agriculture.  In addition, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable 
Development (ICTSD) provided a lunch- time briefing on some of the research carried out by ICTSD 
on agriculture issues. 
(iv) Advanced Technical Barriers to Trade Course  
58. The Trade and Environment Division (TED) and the ITTC-GBCU organized jointly a two-
week Advanced Course on the TBT Agreement whic h took place at WTO Headquarters, in Geneva, 
from 14-25 June 2010.  The 23 selected participan ts already possessed a sound knowledge of the TBT 
Agreement and the WTO system in general; most of them had completed the relevant eLearning 
modules.  The Course aimed to consolidate par ticipants' knowledge and un derstanding of the TBT 
Agreement as well as to overcome challenges related to  the implementation of the Agreement.  It also 
addressed negotiations, dispute settlement and transparen cy in the area of TBT.  As indicated in the 
original letter of invitation, partic ipation in this advanced course was subject to the completion of a 
pre-course questionnaire.  The aim was to encourage participants to gather as much information as 
possible on issues related to the implementation of  the TBT Agreement in their economies, including 
mechanisms and resources (human, financia l, etc.) supporting its implementation.  
59. During the two weeks, participants debated va rious aspects of the TBT Agreement, including 
issues being discussed under the Non Tariff Barriers -related NAMA negotiations.  In addition, the 
course consisted of interactive sessions and provide d participants with a unique opportunity to discuss 
and hear others' experiences in the field of standard s and regulation, and to make contacts with a wide 
range of experts and officials.  The course included a highly appreciated "hands-on" notification exercise focusing upon strategies as to how to r eact to, and derive maximum benefit from, another 
Member's WTO TBT notification.  Another key advantage of the Course was the opportunity to 
attend the regular meeting of the TBT Committee as well as its Sixth Special Meeting on Procedures 
for Information Exchange (on transparency).  Pa rticipants benefited from the involvement of WTO 
Secretariat staff from the Council and TNC, Market Access, Agriculture and Legal Affairs Divisions, 
as well as from the involvement of expert speakers and delegates from China, the European Union, 
India, Mexico, the United States – as well as or ganizations such as the the International 
Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United Na tions Industrial Development Organization 
(UNIDO), ITC and ACWL. Participants also ha d the opportunity to visit the International 
Organization for Standardization (ISO) and to discuss current issues, including the ISO 26000 standard, with the Secretary-General. 
(v) Advanced Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Course  
60. The eight-day 2010 Joint WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on Intellectual Property (IP) 
(organized by WIPO and the WTO Secretariat (In tellectual Property Division and ITTC)) took place 
from 26 April to 5 May 2010.  Participants were required to have completed the WTO online TRIPs 
eLearning module or the WIPO Distance Learni ng Course (or have commensurate knowledge or 
professional experience).  This enabled the activity to continue to concentr ate on advanced, focused 
themes and exploration of the frontiers of current IP  issues. The first part of the course took place at 
the WIPO Headquarters, and the course finished up at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva.  The main 
objective of the Course was to update particip ating government officials on the activities and 
instruments of the WIPO and the WTO and to provi de a forum for an exchange of information and 
ideas between them and the two secretariats on thes e matters.  The activity included a rich range of 
perspectives, as a result of involvement of Geneva -based TRIPs delegates and the private sector in 
certain sessions.  This second Geneva-based advanc ed TRIPs Course for government officials built on WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 20  
 
  the success of the WIPO-WTO Coll oquium for teachers of IP, whic h has been held annually since 
2004.  
(vi) Advanced Dispute Settlement Courses 
61. Two one-week thematic courses on dispute se ttlement took place at WTO Headquarters in 
Geneva in 2010, organized jointly by the Lega l Affairs Division (LAD), the Appellate Body 
Secretariat (ABS) and the ITTC.  An advanced ("le vel 3") dispute settlement course, in Spanish, from 
6 to 10 December, consisted of  interactive presentations, lunch conferences, round tables, group 
discussions and practical exercises given both by in-house experts from the WTO Secretariat and the ABS, as well as many guest speakers from other in ternational organizations (such as the ACWL), the 
private sector, missions and academia.
10  Participants in this advan ced course were asked to have 
already completed a thematic dispute settlem ent course (or have commensurate knowledge or 
professional experience).  In addition, a renovated "l evel 2" course, in English, from 30 August to 3 
September, aimed to provide a better understa nding of the WTO dispute settlement rules and 
procedures through a combination of lectures and inter active exercises.  Partic ipants also benefited 
from the opportunity to attend a DSB meeting. 
(vii) Advanced Sanitary and Phytosanitary Course 
62. The 2010 Advanced Course on the WTO Agreement on the Application of SPS Measures, 
jointly organized by the AGCD and the ITTC, was held in English, from 11 to 29 October 2010, at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva.  Twenty-six government  officials participated in the course, which has 
been run for six consecutive years.  All participants  had to undertake two pre-requisites prior to their 
final selection: (i) successfully complete the SPS eL earning course; and (ii) respond to a questionnaire 
on the level of implementation of the SPS Agreement in their countries.  The completion of the SPS 
eLearning course prior to the Course ensured that all the participants had learned the basic principles 
and provisions of the SPS Agreement, and allowed for in-depth lectures and discussions.  The Course 
focused on transmitting knowledge and awareness about  the SPS Agreement and the work of the SPS 
Committee at an advanced level, as well as skills  to enable participants to address specific 
implementation challenges and opportunities at the nati onal level.  A team of WTO staff and external 
experts coached the participants during the Cour se.  In addition, representatives of the three 
international standard-setting bodi es referred in the SPS Agreement were invited for specific sessions. 
63. The first and third weeks of the cour se included sessions on how to increase the 
understanding of the Agreement at both the national and regional levels;  to create a national agenda 
in order to establish priorities and ensure follow-up,  including different national stakeholders; to learn 
more effective ways to promote national and regi onal coordination;  and to establish sustainable SPS 
leadership.  In addition, each participant was ca lled on to share his/her knowledge and experience on 
the implementation of certain aspects of the SPS Agreem ent in specific sessions of the course.  In the 
second week, participants attended the SPS Co mmittee meetings, as well as a workshop on 
transparency.  They also attended briefing session s organized for them in the margins of the 
Committee meetings.  "Graduates" of former advanced courses, who were attending the SPS 
Committee on behalf of their countries, were invited to share their experience with the participants. 
64. Each participant elaborated an action plan to address at least one or two challenges/difficulties 
encountered in their countries.  They are expected to implement this action plan upon return to their 
                                                      
10 The Course also benefited from the special collaboration of the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de 
México  (ITAM), WTO Chairs Programme.  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 21 
 
 
countries.  The implementation stage will be assist ed and monitored through periodic progress reports 
and a follow-up activity in June 2011.11 
(viii) Basic (Progressive Learning Strategy Level  1) Introduction Courses for Least-Developed 
Countries  
65. In parallel with the advanced orientation of the Geneva-based curriculum, attention to the 
particular needs and interests of  LDCs continued in Geneva:  tw o Introduction Courses for LDCs took 
place at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva in 2010,  one in English and one in French.  The 
Introduction Courses for LDCs focus on issues and pe rspectives of specific concern to LDCs and 
open the door for participants to proceed to further, higher level, training activities such as RTPCs.   
66. This activity introduces participants to the WTO, its basic rules and disciplines and its 
functioning for the benefit of government offici als from LDCs.  Briefing on overall WTO work-in-
progress is an integral part of the course.  The de velopment dimension, with  a particular focus on 
LDC-related issues, constitutes an important compone nt of the programme.  The course benefits from 
involvement of the ITC, UNCTAD, AITIC, the World Bank and the ACWL.   
(ix) Introduction Days 
67. The Geneva-based course training programme w as rounded out by three one-day Introduction 
Days:  two on general WTO matters, and one rela ting specifically to TRIPs.  Intended for newly 
arrived delegates in Geneva, non-governmental organizations, new WTO staff members, interns 
working in the Secretariat and interested official s from other international organizations, the general 
Introduction Days allow for the dissemination of info rmation about the WTO, its basic principles, its 
functioning and current issues, as well as about ways to access WTO-related information through the 
WTO Library and Internet.  Based on the long- standing demand from newly arrived Geneva-based 
WTO delegates, a specialized Introduction Day works hop was also held for th ose delegates who deal 
with TRIPs issues.  This specia lised one-day workshop, the first of its kind, was also warmly 
welcomed by the participants.  The objective of this activity was to introduce the TRIPs Agreement 
and the relevant on-going work in the WTO to ne wly-arrived delegates and to allow for informal 
dialogue to clarify TRIPs-related issues among Geneva-based delegates and with the WTO 
Secretariat.   
IV. OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, ACADEMIC COOPERATION AND INTENSIVE 
COURSES ON TRADE NEGOTIATIONS SKILLS 
A. OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FOR PA RLIAMENTARIANS , PRIVATE SECTOR , MEDIA AND CIVIL 
SOCIETY  
68. Outreach activities for Parliamentarians, civil so ciety and media are part of an overall WTO 
strategy to help these stakeholders better understand and engage in informed debate on the provisions 
of WTO agreements, the Doha Ministerial Declar ation and the DDA negotiations. In 2010, Outreach 
activities aimed towards building dialogue and capacity within WTO TRTA's overall aim of 
sustainable capacity building. Five Regional activit ies were carried out, targeting Parliamentarians, 
media and Civil Society including the private sector . The Regional initiatives complemented or were 
backed up by national outreach workshops, which are carried out as part of the WTO’s regular 
technical assistance work. In 2010,  several efforts were made to engage with national media, all 
                                                      
11 An SPS follow-up session was organi zed for the participan ts of the Specialized  Course on the SPS 
Agreement held in 2009 to report on the implementation of the Action Plans they developed during the course.  
The follow-up session was organized from 23 to 25 June 2010 just prior to the SPS Committee meeting week, so the participants could also participate in the Committee meetings. WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 22  
 
  carried out back-to-back with other WTO TA activiti es. Therefore, the cost of engaging with the 
media was marginal, while reaching out to a wider, non-Geneva based media constituency. 
69. All of the five Outreach activities implemented in 2010, involved partnerships with regional 
Parliamentary, Civil Society organizations or Fo undations. These partnerships have become regular 
and involve long lasting relationships with Parlia mentary associations of the Commonwealth and the 
Francophonie, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Fo ro Inter-Parlementario de las Americas. The 
partnership normally includes joint funding arrangem ents and help in the logistics involved in 
organizing the events. The joint funding has increas ed the possibilities offered by the TRTA Budget. 
70. Regional balance has been crucial in delivering the outreach activities. Parliamentarians, Civil 
Society and Media from Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Pacific and Latin America were engaged in 
2010. Unfortunately, there was no outreach activities organized in the Arab and Middle East region 
for 2010. Demand from developing countries is clearl y high for these activities in all regions. Best 
efforts were made to match available r esources with a growing demand in 2010.  
71. Regional outreach is aimed at complementi ng some of the WTO's Geneva-based outreach 
activities such as the Public Forum and Open Day. Th e Public Forum is consolidating its status as a 
prominent fixture on the international calendar and brings together Government officials, Civil 
Society, Academics, Parliamentarians, Media a nd the general public to debate multilateral trade 
issues. The Open Day held its second edition in  2010 and proved to be a fruitful transparency 
exercise. WTO involvement with the Parliamentar y Conference on WTO is strengthened as the WTO 
is the host for the 2011 session of this Annual Conference. 
B. 
ACADEMIC SUPPORT FOR TRAINING AND CAPACITY -BUILDING  
1. Overview 
72. During 2010, the number of activities involvi ng academic support and cooperation increased 
considerably in relation to previous years.  This is partially due to the launching of the WCP early in 
the year, which gave rise to interaction with  most universities hosting a WTO Chair (launching 
ceremonies), and a rise in the number of academic seminars, conferences and teaching activities 
undertaken by the WTO.  The WTO  implemented  62  activities and initiatives related to academic 
cooperation and support.  The funding for 2010 activities was provided by the Global Trust Fund 
(GTF) and the WTO Regular Budget.   
73. This increase in academic activities may be attributed to more information becoming 
available to WTO Members and their nationa l academic institutions about possible support 
possibilities available from the WTO.  Activities rema in demand-driven, which also signals growing 
interest by beneficiary institutions in receivi ng support from the WTO for academic projects.   
74. There is also an evolution towards more  coherence within and among the existing 
programmes (WCP and Academic Support Programme).  In this sense, the WCP integrates financial 
and substantive support to a reduced number (14) of universities, thr ough a multi-year agreement with 
beneficiary institutions, thus provi ding predictability and continuity and favouring the attainment of 
the beneficiary's objectives.  Similarly, activ ities under the Academic Support Programme tend to 
follow a locally-owned programme-b ased approach, thus also seeking to enhance their impact, 
reducing ah-hoc activities, while preserving flexibility for new "entrants". 
2. Academic Support 
75. Under the Academic Support Programme, activitie s included several regional events which 
were organized in partnership with regional secr etariats (UNESCAP, OIF-AUF, the United Nations  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 23 
 
 
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)) and with associated  academic institutions.  The WTO supported these by providing co-financing and/or thr ough the participation of WTO officials.  During 
2010, the WTO co-sponsored five regional activities a nd funded the participation of its staff in 20 
academic conferences and seminars.  Furthermore, the WTO also financed the participation of staff in the delivery of lectures and training modules in  25 national activities.  Under the Academic 
Programme, the WTO also funded seven PhD fellowships (Brazil, Chine, Egypt, Iran, Kyrgyz 
Republic, Pakistan, Zimbabwe under the doctoral studies programme).  Some of the activities 
implemented were conducted in collaboration wi th academic institutions hosting a WTO Chair 
(Argentina, Morocco and Senegal), as part of th e apporach leading to increasingly involve WTO 
Chair holder institutions in the implementation of WTO activities within their respective countries and 
regions.  
76. The WTO continued donating WTO publications to academic institutions and to individual 
scholars taking part in its activiti es.  Publications were  donated in relation to 36 activities and requests 
received from individual universities, for a total of  948 sets of publications donated during 2010.  
3. WTO Chairs Programme 
77. TheWCP started operating in 2010 in a very active way.  On the part of the WTO Secretariat, 
an Inaugural Conference was organized in the m onth of May, with the presence of WTO Director-
General and WTO Senior Management; a Website was also created to provide basic services the parties of the programme.  Nationa l Launching Ceremonies were orga nized by the Chairs, with the 
participation of senior national officials, WTO Di rector-General and WTO Deputy Directors-General, 
thus initiating the work contemplat ed in their respective projects. 
78. The WCP Inaugural Conference was held both in Geneva and in Barcelona on 25-26 May 
2010, in collaboration with the University of Ba rcelona.  The Conference was attended by the 14 
Chair holders, members of the WCP Advisory Board, and by WTO staff who contributed to the programme as WTO Secretariat counterparts for each Chair.  The Conference provided the 
opportunity to present and to discuss the projects to be developed by the 14 WTO Chair holder 
institutions and facilitated an exchange of ideas on issues related to the functioning of the WCP.  
During the meeting, the Chair holders made presentations about their specific projects in the areas of teaching, research and outreach, while members of the Advisory Board, acting as discussants, 
provided valuable comments and suggestions for th e implementation of the projects and the general 
functioning of the WCP.  Discussions highlighted the global nature of the WCP, including from geographical and linguistic points of view, and th e relevance of the WCP in promoting applied 
research to assist governments in policy making.  The importance of possible joint activities among 
Chairs to enhance the regional impact of their resp ective activities was deemed very valuable in order 
to strengthen the programme and its expected impa ct.  The meeting also provided the opportunity for 
WTO Secretariat counterparts and their corresponding  WTO Chairs to engage in discussions aiming 
at clarifying priority areas in which the WTO S ecretariat would be subs tantively supporting the 
projects undertaken by the Chairs. 
79. Nine of the 14 WTO Chairs organized nationa l Launching Ceremonies during the year.  The 
WTO was represented by its Senior Management, including the Director-General.  National 
governments were present at senior level at these ev ents, through the participation of ministers and 
Rectors of universities.  These launching ceremoni es were held in the context of academic 
conferences and contributed to highlighting the presence of the corresponding institutions as WTO 
partners for trade policy and WTO matters.   
80. WTO Director-General officially launched the work of three of the Chairs (established in 
Chile, China and Senegal), while, on one occasion (Senegal), the ceremony was chaired by the 
President of the Republic.  The participation of  senior-level WTO offici als in these ceremonies 
reaffirmed the commitment of the WTO to this pr ogramme, and highlighted the importance it attaches WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 24  
 
  to contributing to CB in academic institutions in developing countries.  National launching 
ceremonies took place in respect of the Chairs establis hed in Argentina, Chile, China, PR of, Kenya, 
Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Russian Federation, Senegal and Vietnam. 
81. Towards the end of the year, WTO Chairs were  requested to provide their respective 2010 
annual reports which include deta iled information regarding the specific activities undertaken during 
2010, as well as expenses incurred, outputs generated, an identification of operational challenges and 
an overall an assessment of results for the year.  These reports are a pre–requisite for any further 
disbursement during 2011.  An assessment is be ing undertaken by the WTO and the external 
Advisory Board established under the programme.  
C. 
INTENSIVE COURSE ON TRADE NEGOTIATIONS SKILLS  
82. During the course of 2010, close to four hundred Government officials benefited from the 
advanced trade negotiations simulation skills course (ICTNS) held for the various regions in nine 
regional and three national TA activities. 
83. The ITNSC is designed to provide particip ants with skills and knowledge concerning 
appropriate strategies and tactics for the conduc t of trade negotiations, as well as techniques of 
systematic decision analysis for monitoring a nd managing the negotiating process. Participants 
applied the Doha framework modalities on Agriculture , NAMA and Trade in Services to bilateral and 
multilateral trade negotiations.  The course contribut ed directly to the objectives of the Doha DDA by 
improving, deepening and enhanc ing participants' understanding of the DDA negotiations, more 
particularly the Crawford Falconer Draft Modaliti es for Agriculture, Luiz Wasescha Draft Modalities 
for NAMA, 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, and the 2004 July Package.  The core of the 
Course encompasses all the stages in trade nego tiations—from the consultation stage to actual 
negotiations, involving real give-and-take.  The u se of the DDA mandate for the simulation exercise 
makes this training program particularly relevant si nce participants can apply their strengthened skills 
immediately to real world nego tiations in Geneva and other fora. 
84. The Course has been found to be extremely valuable, bringing participants into real 
negotiation mode. Feedback from participants has been very positive and reassuring.  A computed 
average score for 2010 shows that 96 per cent of participants found the TA activity professionally 
useful or relevant and equally 96  per cent had an excellent/very good opinion about the TA activity. 
Virtually all participants indicated in the evaluati on forms that they had benefited from the Course and 
expanded their knowledge of bilate ral and multilateral trade negotiati ons.  A number of participants 
indicated that they would use the knowledge and sk ills acquired in their daily work, bilateral and 
international trade negotiations, free trade agreements  (FTAs) and at the policy-making support level. 
85. The training material has evolved over the year s on the basis of feedback from participants 
and colleagues.  Regional-targeting of the work ing documents has produced the most interesting 
results e.g. as in Kenya, Hong Kong, Antigua , Tunisia and Swaziland where the participants inter alia 
gave a score of 100 per cent for the high quality of the training materials.  A selection process has 
been introduced to improve the quality of the results .  Selected participants are those who have good 
knowledge of the WTO Agreements, have previous ly attended a WTO workshop or seminar on any 
topic, or have followed the WTO e-training.  The resu lts of the ICTNS are of immediate application.   
86. Over the years, the WTO has built partnership with the APEC-Economic Integration project, 
Thailand Institute for Trade and Development (ITD) , Canadian International Development Agency 
(CIDA) and the Conference Board of Canada in r unning intensive courses on trade negotiations skills 
in Asia.  In Africa, partnership has been built with the OIF, University of Pretoria, University of the 
Western Cape (South Africa), University of Dar es Salaam and the University of Nairobi.  The  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 25 
 
 
Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has been involved in partnership arrangements in the middle east.  
Our partners did contribute in terms of both facilitators and financial resources.  
D. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED UNDER ART. 27.2 
87. The provision of TA to developing countries, upon request, pursuant to Article 27.2 of the 
Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) is as an inte gral part of the WTO's overall TA programme.  
DSU 27.2 requires the "technical cooperation services" of the WTO to make available, upon request, 
qualified persons to assist developing c ountries with respect to a dispute.  
88. TA under DSU 27.2 is provided under the following parameters:  
(i) the Secretariat must, as far as possible, accommodate all requests for 
assistance made under this provision.  However, there could be exceptional 
situations where this may not be possible due to, for example, time 
constraints on the consultants, or c onflict of interest as a result of an 
adversarial party to the dispute having already been given this assistance by the Secretariat; 
(ii) in light of the need for "impartiality" of the Secretariat in discharging any 
functions under DSU 27.2 (expressly provi ded in the Article), this assistance 
is provided exclusively by "independent " consultants paid out of the WTO's 
TA budget, and not by Secretariat staff; 
(iii) there is no expectation that the consultants are to provide services similar to 
full-fledged legal counsel in a case. It is more of advisory services usually at the beginning of the dispute, to make  proper assessment of facts and explore 
legal avenues possible, and in some cases extending to subsequent checking 
of documents to be submitted, but larg ely prepared by the country itself, 
albeit with input from the consultants;   
(iv) the consultants engaged under DSU 27.2  do not appear in any panel or 
Appellate Body hearing on behalf of a party; and, 
(v) for obvious ethical reasons, the service can only be provided to one 
party/parties to a dispute (although it co uld be provided to multiple parties on 
the same side of a dispute). Consequently, in the event of two developing countries being parties against each other, the assistance can only be provided to the country which seeks the assistance first. 
89. For the year 2010, seven requests for assistance we re made with respect to actual disputes, all 
of which were accommodated by the Secretariat.  The requests were both as initiator of a dispute and 
as defendant.  Five of these requests were from La tin American countries, one from Asia, and one 
from Eastern Europe.  Latin America is the biggest  requester of the TA provided under DSU 27.2, 
which reflects the regions heavy involvement in di spute settlement.  The average time spent on each 
case is approximately three months, since the consu ltants are engaged on the basis of only one day per 
week.   Work on some of these requests spilled over in to 2011, just as work on some requests made in 
2009 was only concluded in 2010. WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 26  
 
  V. REGIONAL APPROACHES TO TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
AND PARTNERSHIPS 
A. A
FRICA  
90. Pursuant to overall WTO policy, Africa remain s a major priority area for the TA programme 
of the WTO, and this is reflected in Africa's  high proportion of overall TA activities.  In 2010, 
approximately 40 per cent of all WTO national TA ac tivities were delivered in Africa, as were 30 per 
cent of all regional activities.  In addition, participan ts from Africa were also admitted to most of the 
Geneva-based global TA activities. The priority given to African countries demonstrates WTO's 
commitment to strengthening the human and ins titutional capacity of African countries to better 
implement the WTO Agreements and derive significan t benefits there from with a view to facilitating 
their full integration into the MTS.  It should also  be recalled that 42 of the continent's 53 countries 
are WTO Members.  In addition, priority is also  given to LDCs under the WTO's TRTA programme.  
In view of the fact that Africa has the vast majority of LDCs (33 of the 49 LDCs), WTO's prioritization of Africa and LDCs is mu tually consistent and reinforcing. 
91. In 2010, a number of national activities and internship programmes, as well as regional 
seminars and workshops, were organized for African  countries.  National activities are considered the 
primary means by which specific needs of countri es are met through tailor-made programmes, based 
on carefully drawn needs assessments.  Thus, nati onal activities are meant to address specific capacity 
constraints of countries and create institutional know ledge so as to facilitate continuous engagement 
in theMTS.   
92. The subjects covered in the national activities in  2010 included agriculture, trade facilitation, 
the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GAT S), Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), TRIPS, 
NAMA, TBT, SPS, customs valuation, trade remedi es, government procurement and trade negotiation 
skills.  These activities reflected growing demand  for subjects connected to the ongoing DDA 
negotiations, as well as other topical issues relevant to Africa's integration into the MTS.  Delivery of 
TA to Africa continued to emphasize that TA is only effective if it addresses clearly identified needs.  
Consequently, most of the subjects covered at natio nal seminars were identified by the beneficiary 
country using the new standard format for nationa l requests which require the matching of a request 
with an established need for a particular activity. The priorities of countries are usually reflected in 
Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies (DTIS) prepared  in connection with the EIF (see below), or in 
the context of a trade facilitation needs assessment report or within the framework of the Standards 
and Trade Development Facility (STDF).   
93. Over the years, the Trade Policy Review (TPR) exercise, which is carried out periodically for 
each WTO Member, has emerged as one of the most important sources for identifying the TA needs 
of a country.  In recent years, every TPR of a de veloping country or LDC Member includes a specific 
chapter on Aid for Trade/TRTA which, inter alia , contains a detailed analysis of a country's TRTA 
needs, as well as other challenges to its integration into the MTS, including its supply-side constraints.  
Thus, the TPR process has now become a major source of information on the TRTA needs of African 
countries.  In 2010, six African countries
12 had their trade policies reviewed.  This interplay of TRTA 
needs assessments and TPRs has necessitated a colla borative relationship between the Trade Policies 
Review Division (TPRD) and the ITTC.    
94. With respect to LDCs, the EIF (through the DT IS) is the main source of needs identification 
for LDCs, and also provides the platform by whic h TA delivery under various configurations can be 
delivered.  In view of the fact that the EIF is a multi-agency programme, it see ks to identify all forms 
                                                      
12 Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Democratic Republic, the Gambia, Malawi and Mali.  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 27 
 
 
of TRTA needs of LDCs (of which African countries constitute the vast majority), and not necessarily 
only those needs than can be de livered by the WTO.     
95. Although national activities remain the primary means of addressing TA needs, there are 
situations where the TRTA needs of many Afri can countries converge around a core number of 
subjects.  In this regard, regional activities are used  to meet the collective n eeds of many countries for 
a particular WTO subject of interest.  In additi on, human and financial resource constraints make 
regional activities a very good alternative to delivery of TA at the national level.  Regional activities 
have, therefore, remained a major plank of WTO' s TA programme.  In the planning and delivery of 
regional activities, the ITTC has in recent years ta ken advantage of its working relationship with 
regional partners involved with hum an and institutional capacity-build ing in Africa.  These include 
the United UNECA, with whom the WTO has c oncluded a Memorandum of Understanding, the 
African Development Bank (AfDB) as well as sub-regi onal institutions such as the Southern African 
Development Community (SADC), the Common Ma rket for Eastern and Southern Africa 
(COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), th e Economic Community of West African States 
(ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Mone tary Union (WAEMU) and the Central African 
Economic and Monetary Cooperation (CEMAC).   
96. The WTO has also concluded mutually benefici al arrangements with a number of institutions, 
including the OIF.  The co-operation with OIF covers a broad range of activities, including 
collaborating on trade-related research projects and th e organization and delivery of training projects 
for developing countries which are members of the La francophonie .   In 2010, four regional activities 
were jointly organized by the two institutions on a costs-sharing basis. The OIF also helped in 
financing the installation or upgrading of RCs in several African countries.   
97.   Activities held jointly with regional cooperati ng partners have the distinct advantage of 
allowing for complementary contributions by resource persons with expertise in specific trade issues 
from the Secretariats of the relevant cooperating partner, as well as from the respective national 
Government departments represented at these activities.  Such synergies are help ful in building a base 
of potential trainers within each sub-region, which could gradually reduce the burden on the 
Secretariat as a result of ever increasing demands for delivery of TA.  The regional partners are also increasingly helping with logistical arrangements enabling the WTO to focu s on substantive aspects 
of the training programmes and making cost savings by not sending staff from Geneva to oversee logistical issues. 
98. To deepen the knowledge of officials and equi p them with the necessary skills that would 
enable them to discharge their duties efficien tly, the WTO has begun implementing the PLS in its 
programmes in all regions, including Africa and also  in Geneva-based programmes.  This ensures that 
participants attending activities have nearly the same  level of knowledge base and are able to enhance 
their understanding of WTO Agreements  generally or particular Agreements relevant to their areas of 
work.  Given the challenges facing a number of African countries, including limited internet 
connectivity, efforts have been made  to ensure that they fully benefit from the PLS.  In this context, 
participants attending the three-week Introductio n Courses for LDCs are exempted from the 
requirement to complete the eLearning module on “I ntroduction to the WTO” and are eligible to 
apply for level two courses.  Greater use of CD-R oms is also being promoted so as to overcome 
interconnectivity problems. As a result of these effo rts, participants from several African countries 
were admitted to the first ATPC,. 
99. The WTO also continued its collaboration with va rious academic institutions in order to assist 
them to develop and enhance their curricula on intern ational trade.  The partnership is expected to 
generate many benefits, including the training of tr ainers so as to create institutional knowledge about 
the WTO and the MTS.  The flagship programme is  the three-month RTPC which is held with a 
selected academic partner.   In 2010, the RTPC for French-speaking African countries was held in 
Cotonou, Benin, while the RTPC for English-sp eaking African countries was held in Manzini, WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 28  
 
  Swaziland.  Five African Universities were sel ected under the WCP, namely Cheikh Anta Diop 
University, the University of Na mibia, the University of Nairobi , the University of Mauritius and 
Mohammed V University-Souissi.  In addition, th e WTO collaborated with a number of African 
universities by establishing RCs, participating in sy mposia and conferences a nd providing resource 
persons to teach specific modules on international trade.  
100. The priority given to Africa is not limited to delivery of activities at the national or regional 
level.  Several other TA initiatives also accord prio rity to African countries and LDCs.  For example, 
under the NTP, a programme designed to bring officials to the WTO for a ten-month period, the majority of the selected participants are from LDCs  and African countries.  In 2010, ten out of the 13 
candidates admitted to the NTP were officials fro m African countries.  This programme allows 
African officials to further broaden their exposure to the day- to-day work of the WTO in all the 
relevant areas.   
101. The RC programme continues to be a major sour ce of assistance to African countries for the 
transfer of trade-related information from Geneva  to the capitals.  The strategy behind the RCs 
continues to be aimed at utilizing them as "one-s top" information centres on all MTS-related issues, 
but also as a valuable tool for the private sector in  search of new market opportunities.  In 2010, seven 
African countries benefited from an upgrade of their RCs enabling them to keep abreast of 
developments in the Doha negotiations and in the MTS generally.  It is widely acknowledged that 
properly functioning RCs could also be an effec tive medium for the WTO's e-learning activities.   
B. A
SIA PACIFIC  
102. Given the diversity of the level of economic de velopments and particip ation of economies in 
the Asia and Pacific region in the MTS, the main obj ective of the Desk is to tailor TA to the specific 
needs of the beneficiaries through different modalit ies and products offered in the TA Plan.  In 
addition to the three-month RTPC held in partners hip with the NUS, in 2010, the WTO organized 22 
regional workshops and training courses.  These ac tivities were held at advanced level, covered a 
wide range of WTO-related areas including: agriculture and agriculture negotiations, DDA 
negotiations, fisheries subsidies, GATS and the services negotiations, market access issues (rules of 
origin, customs valuation, import licensing, etc. ), NAMA, SPS, trade and development, trade and 
environment and TRIPS, as well as those targeting the parliamentarians and researchers.    
103. A key feature of the regional workshops is the involvement of regional institutions such as 
UNESCAP and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretaria t (PIFS).  The involvement of these institutions 
has enriched WTO TA by providing technical inputs and regional perspectives on different WTO 
issues, in addition to the financial and logistical support.  In 2010, the WTO organized five joint 
activities with UNESCAP, ranging from seminars on WTO-specific issues such as agriculture and 
services, high level consultations on DDA negotiations for senior government officials, to workshops 
for junior and senior researchers from the region.  With  the PIFS, our partner in the Pacific region, the 
WTO held two activities, focusing WTO negotiating issu es to inform the state of play for the Pacific 
member states, all of which have no diplomatic representation in Geneva.  In addition, several 
activities were conducted under part nership arrangements, including with the Temasek Foundation 
Centre for Trade Negotiations (TFCTN) for an outreac h activity for the parliamentarians, and with the 
Government of Singapore on advanced training on TRI PS.  Furthermore, close working relations were 
maintained with other regional institutions such  as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the APEC, 
the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASE AN) and the South Asian Association for Regional 
Cooperation (SAARC), which were regularly invite d to and participated in WTO activities.  
104. In 2010, 43 national workshops were held in th e Asia and Pacific region.  Subjects covered 
included: Accessions, Agriculture, Aid for Trade, Dispute Settlement, EIF, fisheries subsidies, 
government procurement, NAMA, notifications, SPS, trade and development, trade and environment,  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 29 
 
 
trade in services, trade negotiations skills, TPR, TRIPS, trade remedies, and WTO and the DDA negotiations.  Due to human and fina ncial resource constraints, the S ecretariat was not able to respond 
to all the requests submitted by WTO Members and Observers from the region, but those unmet requests will be incorporated in the TA delivery in 2011.  
105. Like in other regions, the needs assessments have  been conducted in the context of TPRs, and 
the EIF DTIS in the case of LDCs.  In 2010, the S ecretariat Reports of the TPR contained a section on 
Aid for Trade for Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka.
13  Within the context of the EIF, Nepal 
completed its DTIS update, building on its earlier DT IS done in 2003; and Samoa finalised its first 
DTIS.  In 2010, Bangladesh and Bhutan also starte d the preparation of their respective DTIS, which 
are expected to be completed in the course of 2011.       
C. ARAB COUNTRIES AND THE MIDDLE EAST  
106. The objectives of the desk covering the Arab and Middle East countries (AMEC) are to put in 
place clear and coherent WTO training paths based on a progressive, multi-modular approach.  In 2010, at the regional level, Arab countries have  significantly benefited from WTO's TA and CB 
activities.  A large number of government officials participated in eight WTO regional seminars and 
training events, covering a wide range of WTO-re lated areas including accessions; dispute settlement; 
market access issues (rules of origin, customs va luation, import licensing, etc.); NAMA; GATS and 
the services negotiations; trade and deve lopment; as well as trade facilitation. 
107. Twelve national activities were organized in AMEC in 2010.  Subjects covered included 
recent developments of the DDA, GATS and services negotiations, accessions; energy services and the GATS; accessions: workshop on the Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime; TPR; as well as, 
The Financial Crisis and the DDA State of Play.    The low figure is mainly due to the fact that some 
needs were being addressed at the regional level or by other partner institutions.  An additional facture 
which hampered any effort by the Secretariat to  organize specific events related to the security 
situation in some countries.  This was some how addressed by organizing specific programmes in 
Geneva funded by other partner in stitutions for groups of officials coming from these countries and 
accepting more of their officials to benefit from internship programmes on offer at the WTO in 
particular within the NTP or MIP. 
108. Due to human and financial resource constrai nts, the Secretariat was not in a position to 
organize a full-fledged three-month RTPC for the Ar ab Countries as is the case for other regions.  
Until this objective is achieved, the Secretariat h as been working closely with academics from the 
region with a view to co-delivering some joint activities.  A one-month STPC was organized with the 
AMF for the Arab countries in 2010.  Due to an insu fficient number of nomina tions the course had to 
be cancelled. 
109. Partnership arrangements with the main regi onal economic organizations such as the United 
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Wester n Asia (UNESCWA), the AMF, IsDB, the Gulf 
Cooperation Council (GCC), continued to play a significant role in achieving the desired common 
objectives of empowering and enhanci ng the participation of the Arab countries in the MTS.  Several 
regional events were organized in collaboration with partner institutions during 2010.  The Secretariat 
has been working with its partners in the various  regions to go beyond the traditional TRTA activities 
it provides to government officials, and has worked di rectly with other stakeholders, such as private 
sector representatives, academia, journalists, and civil society.   
110. Several Arab countries, including the GCC countri es completed their needs assessments in the 
context of the trade facilitation negotiations.  Others  benefited, from the EIF and the STDF, such as 
Yemen.  Finally, AMEC (Members and Observers) were continually invited to all Geneva-based 
                                                      
13 Contained in WT/TPR/S/239 and S/237, respectively.  WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 30  
 
  activities planned in 2010, such as the specializ ed courses and the ATPCs as well as e-training 
modules. 
D. C
ENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA AND CAUCASUS COUNTRIES  
111. The CEECAC economies have benefited fro m the WTO's TA and CB activities in 2010.  
Officials from CEECAC economies have participated  in ten WTO regional seminars and training 
events, covering The Agreement on Agriculture and the Agriculture negotiations; NAMA; SPS; trade 
negotiations skills; as well as Advanced Training Pr ogramme for Senior Government Official.  The 
region also benefited from a workshop for wniversity professors.  
112. During 2010, efforts by the Secretariat were  focused on assisting the CEECAC countries to 
identify their TA needs.  For Memb ers, this was carried out, to the extent possible, in collaboration 
with the TPRD through the trade policy review mechanism.  For Observers, the ITTC has been 
working closely with acceding countries as well as with the Accessions Division with a view of identifying the specific TA needs of each individual observer.   
113. Due to human and financial resource constrai nts, the Secretariat was not in a position to 
organize a three-month RTPC for the CEECAC count ries.  Until this objective is achieved, the 
Secretariat has been working closely with academi cs from the region with a view of co-delivering 
some joint activities.  The second such activity was organized in close collaboration with the Bilgi 
University, for government officials for one month, in Istanbul, Turkey.  While shorter than a normal 
RTPC, it will still qualify officials from the region to the new ATPC (level 3) that will be held in 
Geneva in 2011.  This Course was well designed and achieved to a large extent its set objectives.    
114. During 2010, the contribution of regional institutio ns was crucial to the efficient delivery of 
WTO TRTA.  For the CEECAC region, the Joint Vienna  Institute (JVI) is an important partner.  A 
large number of the regional activities (four) were or ganized jointly with the JVI at their Headquarters 
in Vienna, Austria.  This successful collaboration continued to be practical and beneficial for the 
WTO in 2010.  Partnership arrangements ensure high quality interaction in the preparation and 
implementation of joint techni cal cooperation and CB activities. 
115. Countries from the region also benefited from ot her TA-related programmes, such as the EIF, 
the STDF; a large number of Geneva based activities and the internships programmes. 
E. L
ATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN  
116. The ITTC has continued delivering TRTA througho ut the region and has put particular care in 
pursuing consultations with delega tions and capitals to better tailor workshops and seminars to actual 
national needs.  In delivering our regional activities we  have put special zeal in our partnerships with 
our regional partners. 
117. Partnerships with regional organizations are multipurpose.  Firstly, they allow for cost 
savings, not a minor endeavour at a time in which many WTO Members, and particularly donors, are 
engaged in fiscal consolidation.  Secondly, it help s to better focus on regional needs, as our regional 
partners have a better understanding of regional challenges a nd opportunities.  Thirdly, it also 
broadens regional partners' awaren ess of multilateral challenges and th e need to strive for coherence 
in global economic policy making.  
118. Out of numerous regional partnerships that with  the INTAL, the development institute of the 
IADB is clearly outstanding.  This is a very well established relation that has kept consolidating over 
time.  There is a very fluid dialogue with the Dir ector of INTAL and IADB staff are regularly invited 
to speak at workshops.  In 2010, IADB/INTAL has co-financed six of our regional activities.    WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 31 
 
 
119. Other partnerships, as those with the Organization of American States (OAS), the Caribbean 
Community Secretariat (CARICOM), the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the Secretariat for Centro-American Integration (SIE CA), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on 
Agriculture (IICA) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).  This year also was 
initiated a cooperative relation with FLACSO, the Latin  American School of Soci al Sciences and this 
first activity was a remarkably successful wo rkshop on the main topics discussed in WTO's 2010 
World Trade Report.  All of these partnerships have  been of invaluable help to make WTO’s TRTA 
activities more effective and successful.   
120. Thanks to the aforementioned pa rtnerships, the enhanced in-hou se coordination and the use of 
new technical tools it has been possible to mini mize the constraints imposed by staff competing 
activities.  However, it should be noted that some  activities had to be rescheduled for 2011 due to 
human resources constraints.  The stepping-up of the DDA negotiations could only exacerbate this 
limitation.  Participants' evaluation reports continue to suggest that after the delivery of the majority 
of TRTA activities, benificiaries generally have a better appreciation of WTO rules and their interest 
in successful DDA negotiations.  In this respect some activities were extended or modified in order to 
include more exercises.  The logistic cost was reduced thanks to the use of Websites to upload 
training materials.  These changes were very well r eceived, as participants now have the opportunity 
to check the training materials before the activity, study the topics in more depth and do more practical exercises.  Consistent with the PLS, ca ndidates submitted by governments are required to 
have previously completed the relevant onlin e training or to be able to demonstrate  having acquired 
equivalent knowledge th rough professional experience.  Also, in selecting candidates, particular 
attention has been paid to avoid selecting the sa me candidate for successive analogous activities.   
121. Forty-three national and 21 regional activities we re conducted in the Latin American (LAC) 
region in 2010, this included activities programme d for 2010 and carry-over from 2009.  It is worth 
noting that four countries from the region:  Jam aica, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador conducted 
their TPRs in 2010.  These meetings were informativ e and revealed many areas of progress due to 
reforms undertaken by the selected benificiaries.  The reports also signalled the challenges that some 
benificiaries face in the process of trade reform, making recommendations for improvements.  These 
recommendations inform specific requests and delivery of TA in the particular area of concern.   
122. In the LAC region, the main national activities included topics covering agriculture, dispute 
settlement, TBT/SPS, services, rules, trade and environment,  TRIPS, government procurement, TPR 
and RCs.  Twenty nine national and 16 regional ac tivities were conducted in the region.  There is 
increasing interest in the financial crisis and the impact of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures on 
trade.  Interest is also high on climate change and its impact on trade.  
123. In the Caribbean region, national requests have been related to TPR, TRIPS, trade negotiation 
skills, notifications, rules, customs valuation, servi ces and RCs.  Fourteen national and five regional 
activities were carried out in the region.   
124. In more specific areas, Haiti is the only LAC Member benefiting from the implementation of 
the EIF activities.  The EIF stakeholders had agr eed in 2008 to start the EIF process – namely the 
DTIS in Haiti, after the lead agency  has been notified.  In 2009, Haiti notified the stakeholders of its 
intention to work with the World Bank as DTIS lead agency.  However, due to the tragic events in 
Haiti, 2010 DTIS activities had to be cancelled.  Ne vertheless, current political situation permitting, 
the DTIS will start quite soon.  In fact, there is a plan to conduct an EIF familiarisation workshop in 
the first half of 2011.  WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 32  
 
  Graph 7 
 
 
 
Graph 8 
 
 
 
 
Graph 9: Funding 2010 
 
 
  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 33 
 
 
Graph 10 
 
 
 
 
VI. TRAINEE PROGRAMMES AND INTERNSHIPS 
125. The WTO Secretariat operates three main train ee programmes and internships, as contained in 
the TA Plan.  The programmes are all geared towa rds trade capacity-building in beneficiaries and 
include:  
 the Netherlands Trainee Programme,  
 the Mission Internship Programme and, 
 the WTO Regional Coordinator Internship (RCI). 
 126. According to the terms of reference of the in ternship programmes, the interns under the NTP 
are working in the Secretariat to perform specific tasks that were agreed prior to their arrival and 
following discussions with each of them upon their a rrival, the interns under the MIP provide direct 
support to essentially small Geneva-based missions and the regional coordinator interns provide direct 
support to the regional coordinato rs. The NTP and MIP programmes last for ten months, the Regional 
Coordinator for six months, as this function normally rotates.  
127. These programmes are implemented in close cooperation between ITTC and the Human 
Resources Division (HRD), which provides the admini strative support.  ITTC is responsible for the 
overall supervision of the programmes and associates as much as possible the line divisions with it and allocates interns, in consultation, to other divisi ons. This allows the participants to broaden their 
horizons. 
128. In 2010, 13 interns were selected under the NTP, 16 under the MIP and eight under the RCI. 
The year 2010 is the first time that the in-take has been so large, with altogether over 120 applicants 
and some 30 participants retained, thanks to the generous contributions of  the Netherlands (NTP), 
France and Ireland  (MIP).  The regional coordi nator programme is financed from the Doha 
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF). 
129. Since the launching of the intern programmes, a total of 179 interns have been recruited, with 
73 trainees under the NTP, 67 interns have benefite d from the MIP, and 39 officials have benefited 
from the RCI programme.   After completion of their internship, mo st of them return to their capital 
and often assume high level positions in  their national administrations.  
130. In 2010 several initiatives have been implemente d in order to give the programmes a dynamic 
impulse and provide the participants with additional tool s to deepen their expertise.  While most of the 
interns have been working with the ITTC Regional Desks, many have also been working on a variety 
of topics with other divisions, including on accessions, on the STDF, on the EIF, on trade facilitation, on services, on NAMA and on the TPR. They have  all followed the DDA negotiations, attended the WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 34  
 
  General Council and committee meetings, as well as interacted with their regional groups and 
provided support in terms of briefs and analysis. Many of them have prepared briefing (country) notes 
for the Director-General. 
131. They have had specific training on a variety of issues, including on the operation of the RCs, 
on the IDB, i.e. tariffs and schedules, worked on their countries' TRTA needs assessment etc.. They 
have also had a day of training at ITC and attende d UNCTAD meetings.  Several have interacted with 
ACWL and got advice from them. Most of them have closely interacted with their missions, prepared 
reports on meetings and interacted with Secretariat staff on specific issues. They have been associated 
with the Geneva weeks, introduction days and some times been able to take part in specialized 
workshops, e.g. for the Advanced Course on SPS, or  in other Geneva-based courses. The Secretariat 
has always followed a pragmatic approach and tr ied to accommodate as much as possible.  
Representatives from other organizations were invited to brief the participants and the Ambassador of 
the African Union briefed the interns and invited them  to actively participate in the Africa Day.  A 
concluding session was organized with the Director General and Senior Management, and they were 
provided with certificates at the end of their stay. 
132. It is also worth mentioning that this year, a novelty was introduced as every month a meeting 
was held with all of the trainees, to discuss on-going  issues, but also to have them make presentations 
on WTO Agreements, on a topic of their choice and w ith the presence of the expert from the relevant 
WTO Division. The idea was to give them a chance to test their ideas informally, to allow them to 
develop their presentation skills and get feedback fr om the line divisions, with a possibility to follow 
up. The quality of the (Power point) presentations was of very high standing and this exercise was 
particularly appreciated.  
133.  A few interns started later and therefore stayed  on for a few more months. All interns will be 
part of an alumni network that has been establis hed and they will receive regular updates and info 
from the Secretariat. They will also be able to  chat between themselves through the network, and 
exchange experiences. We hope that they will st ay in touch between themselves and with the 
Secretariat. 
134. The interns are considered in many ways WTO's 'ambassadors' in the field and it is hoped that 
they will disseminate the information they have gather ed here in Geneva. Also, it is good to note that 
quite a few of them re-appear in Geneva in another ca pacity, e.g. as a delegate in the mission. In some 
cases, actually, the trainees had the specific task to open the mission, as was the case for Niger. They 
have had first-hand exposure to  what happens in the kitchen of the WTO which is a unique 
opportunity, particularly for countries without a local  antenna, i.e. permanent mission. They have got 
a better understanding of the sensitivities in the ne gotiations, specifically the DDA. The programmes 
allow them to actively take part in the Geneva  process and to acquire the tools to accomplish the 
complex WTO related tasks at home. 
A. N
ETHERLANDS TRAINEE PROGRAMME  
135. The main objective of the NTP is to generate tangible and measurable results and thus leave a 
lasting trace, including through: 
(i) building sustainable capacity in benefici ary countries, by providing officials 
with an opportunity to directly participate in WTO's work in Geneva; 
(ii) providing exposure to ongoi ng activities in the Secretariat, which will assist 
officials in enhancing their understanding of the functioning of the WTO and 
the MTS, and providing relevant policy advice to the governments;  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 35 
 
 
(iii) facilitating the implementation of Member's commitments in the WTO; and, 
(iv) contributing to the achievement of the goals of the DDA, and more 
specifically, those set out in the Decision of the General Council in August 2004 (the "July Package"). 
136. The NTP is designed in a manner to build in-co untry capacity in the most effective ways, to 
assist in the economic and social development of  LDCs, low income countries and comparable poor, 
small and vulnerable economies in areas related to trade policy.  It thus provides officials with a direct 
opportunity to learn about matters dealt with within the WTO, under the direction of staff members of the WTO.  According to the terms of reference of th e intern programmes, as reflected in the  TA Plan, 
particular attention is given to  African countries.  The interns under the NTP are working in the 
Secretariat to perform specific tasks that were ag reed prior to their arrival and following discussions 
with each of them upon their arrival in close collaboration with ITTC Regional Desks.   
137. During its lifespan, a total of 73 candidates were  retained from 53 different countries (Cf.  
Table 4).  In the Autumn 2010, another ten candida tes were selected for 2011.  In terms of regional 
distribution of participants under the NTP, as can be  seen from graphs 12 and 13, most trainees came 
from Africa (48 or 66 per cent), followed by Asia (13 or 18 per cent), CEECAC and AMEC (eight or 
eleven per cent) and LAC (four or five per cent).  Particular attention was gi ven to LDCs who had the 
largest number of trainees (51 or 70 per cent).  Most trainees stayed for ten months.   
  
Graph 11 
 
 
01020
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 201016 16
891113Netherlands Training Programme 
Number of participants per year
 
 
 WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 36  
 
   
Table 4: Netherlands Training Programme - Beneficiary countries 
 
1 Afghanistan 28 Liberia 
2 Angola 29 Madagascar 
3 Armenia 30 Malawi 
4 Bangladesh 31 Mali 
5 Benin 32 Mauritania 
6 Bhutan 33 Mongolia 
7 Botswana 34 Myanmar 
8 Burkina Faso 35 Namibia 
9 Burundi 36 Niger 
10 Cambodia 37 Nigeria 
11 Cameroon 38 Pakistan 
12 Central African Republic 39 Paraguay 
13 Chad 40 Rwanda 
14 Comoros 41 Saint Kitts and Nevis 
15 Côte d'Ivoire 42 Saint Lucia 
16 Democratic  Republic of the  Congo 43 Senegal 
17 Djibouti 44 Sierra Leone 
18 Nepal 45 Sudan 
19 Gambia 46 Swaziland 
20 Ghana 47 Tonga 
21 Guinea 48 Uganda 
22 Guinea-Bissau 49 Vanuatu 
23 Kenya 50 Viet Nam 
24 Kyrgyz Republic 51 Yemen 
25 Lao People's  Democratic Republic 52 Zambia 
26 Lebanon 53 Zimbabwe 
27 Lesotho 
  
Graph 12 
 
 
  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 37 
 
 
 
Graph 13 
 
 
 
B. THE MISSION INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME  
138. This Programme was developed in early 2001;  the main objectives ar e similar to the ones 
contained in the NTP, but the programme is g eared towards providing support to Geneva-based 
missions.  The candidates work in their own country Mission in Geneva and not in the WTO Secretariat, and can represent their country in the va rious bodies within the WTO.  This Programme is 
available primarily to missions of  LDCs and small and vul nerable economies.  Preference is given to 
countries with the least number of staff in Geneva.   
139. The MIP interns benefit from the same traini ng than the that of the NTP and attend the 
monthly internship programmes meetings.   
140. In 2010, 14 candidates were selected.  Since the creation of this programme, a total of 67 
officials have been recruited from 36 different countries (cf.  Table 5).  In line with the main objective 
of the programme, LDCs benefited mostly from the programmes (cf.  Graph 16), with a total of 38 
interns or 57 per cent.  The regional repartition sh ows that 55 per cent of the participants are from 
Africa, 21 per cent from Asia and the Pacific, 21 per cent from LAC and three per cent from 
CEECAC and AMEC (cf. graph 15). 
Graph 14: Mission Internship Programme - Number of Participants Per Year 
 WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 38  
 
   
Graph 15 
 
 
Graph 16 
 
 
Table 5: WTO Mission Internship Programme - Beneficiary Countries 
1 Bangladesh 19 Mauritania 
2 Barbados 20 Mauritius 
3 Benin 21 Mongolia 
4 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 22 Mozambique 
5 Burkina Faso 23 Namibia 
6 Burundi 24 Nepal 
7 Cambodia 25 Nicaragua 
8 Congo RC 26 Nigeria 
9 Côte d'Ivoire 27 Rwanda 
10 Cuba 28 Sri Lanka 
11 Djibouti 29 Sudan 
12 Dominican Republic 30 Tajikistan 
13 El Salvador 31 Tanzania 
14 Guinea 32 Uganda 
15 Kenya 33 Uruguay 
16 Laos 34 Viet Nam 
17 Lesotho 35 Yemen 
18 Mali 36 Zambia  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 39 
 
 
 C. T
HE WTO  REGIONAL COORDINATOR INTERNSHIP  
141. In this Programme, the mission of a rotating group coordinator is eligible to have an intern, 
paid by the WTO, for a period of six months. At the end of six months, the system rotates to the next designated group coordinator.  The interns under th e regional coordinator interns provide direct 
support to the regional coordinators.  They are i nvited to attend the monthly internship programmes 
meetings. 
142. A total of 38 officials have been funded under this programme (Cf.  Table 6), providing 
support to 24 missions. 
Table 6:  Regional Coordinator Internship – List of Coordinators 
Country Interns Country Interns 
ACP Mission 10 Morocco 1 
Bangladesh 1 Pacific Islands Forum 1 
Barbados 1 Rwanda 2 
Belize 1 Sri Lanka 1 
Benin 2 St. Kitts and Nevis 1 
Côte d'Ivoire 1 Tanzania 1 
Egypt 3 Trinidad and Tobago 2 
Gabon 1 Uganda 1 
India  1 Vietnam 1 
Jamaica 1 Zambia 1 
Lesotho 2   
Mauritius 2 Total  38 
 
 
Graph 17 
 
 
1014
356
0246810121416
ACP Mission Africa CEECAC &
AMECAsia &
PacificLA &
CaribbeansRCI Regional Distribution
 WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 40  
 
   
Graph 18 
 
 
 
 
Graph 19 
 
20
18
1718192021
LDCs OthersRCI - Number of interns from LDCs
 
 
Graph 20 
 
 
 
 
VII. REFERENCE CENTRES 
143. 2010 was the first effective year of the implemen tation of the new RC strategy. This strategy 
was implemented in close partnership with the ITTC  Regional Desks, and allo wed for nine updated or 
newly created RCs for the year.  In line with th e new strategy and to respond more adequately to 
specific needs,  the programme has been streamlined to focus more specifically on those countries that 
are most in need (LDCs, Sub-Saharan Africa, non-r esidents)..  . All these missions were delivered in 
close collaboration with the ITTC Regional Desk s as well as with other WTO divisions. This new  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 41 
 
 
approach took into account the recommendations ma de through BTORs, as well as the outcome of 
evaluations conducted in recent years by the TCU, in  an attempt to tailor the RC programme to the 
specific needs of its clients.   
144. The ownership of the RCs has been enhanced at  the national level through the appointment of 
a RC Manager who receives adequate training on th e access and use of relevant information. The RC 
Unit contributed significantly to the operational im plementation of the new strategy by establishing 
procedures for administrative and logistical (e.g . equipment) follow-up to optimize the management 
of the programme and insure quality and results ba sed management in the execution of this product 
for Members.  
145. Since the creation of the RC programme, a tota l of 153 RCs have been established in 107 
countries. During this year, the RC Unit organized a global review and audit to examine the needs and 
the follow-up required for the RC programme to ha ve a clearer understanding of the state of these 
centres throughout the world. This exercise allowed us  to identify the fully operational RCs as well as 
those which require more attention on our part in  terms of equipment and training. Following the 
global review, we have determined  that 96 RCs in 85 countries are effectively in working mode.  Of 
these, 35 RCs (40 per cent) are in Africa, 30 (34 per cen t) in Asia and Pacific, 14 (16 per cent) in LAC 
and nine (ten per cent) in CEECAC and AMEC. 
146. There are several factors that can affect the functioning of RCs. First, due to the pace of 
technological development, the maintenance of the equipment need to occur frequently. Furthermore, 
a lack of available staff possessing adequate training could make RCs less functional. The lack of a functional working place has also been an issue; in cluding, for example, temporary restructuring and 
repositioning of some RCs or natural disaster (Haiti earthquake). Information flows from the WTO 
Secretariat are also very important to the functioning of the RCs. Some problems have been encountered by RCs with respect to receiving timely, up-to-date information from WTO Headquarters. Nearly two thirds (69 per cent) of RCs, especially those based in LDCs, encounter difficulties related to Internet connectivity. Thus, improving internet connectivity appears to be a 
fundamental issue – especially since one of the ma in objectives of the RC Programme is to provide 
beneficiaries with a dedicated physical location where any relevant information on the WTO can be 
accessed via the WTO Website. 
147. The review also demonstrated that the documen tation available to RCs is deemed sufficient 
most of the time. More than one half (60 per cent) of the respondents found that the documentation 
was "always" or "often" sufficient. However,  the remaining respondents indicated that the 
documentation only was sufficient either "sometimes " (28 per cent) or even "never" (12 per cent). 
About one-half (48 per cent) of the RCs make their computers available for WTO e-Training purposes which is incremental in the new PLS. Of those RCs  who do not make their computers available for 
WTO e-Training purposes, a primary reason for this appears to be a lack of equipment.  
148. Specific training events were developed to the benefit of the interns of the NTP and MIP.  
The programme for this activity was defined in clo se collaboration with the Statistics Section of the 
Economic Research and Statistics Division (ERSD) , the Library and Information Management 
Service of the Languages Documentation and Info rmation Management Division (LDIMD), and the 
Information, Media and External Relations Divisi on (IMRD). This programme included theoretical 
training sessions, practical workshops and discussion meetings. During these events, the tools necessary for the efficient runn ing of a RC were presented and discussed.  This activity was 
established with a view to creating synergies be tween the RC programme, NTP and MIP and thus 
reinforcing their collective impact.  Participants will be in a position to relay this knowledge once 
back in the capital.  This training will be extended to the 2011 cohorts. 
149. Almost two thirds (65 per cent) of RCs noted that their coordinator was not fully trained, 
whereas only 35 per cent affirmed that their coordi nator had indeed received some training. More WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 42  
 
  training would enhance the effectiveness of these RC s.  Levels of inter-RC communication are low – 
80 per cent of the RCs are not in touch with ot her RCs. A worldwide network of WTO RCs, with a 
communication and discussion platform between RC Managers to enable RCs to learn from each other's experiences  is a priority for the new RC Strategy in 2011. 
150. In order to respond to the specifics needs raised by the staff of the RC and further develop its 
cooperative links with coordinators of these cen tres, the WTO will organize a Symposium for RC 
managers in 2011 This will be the first symposium of its type organised by the Secretariat, and aims 
to provide RC managers with th e knowledge and tools necessary to run a RC, including skills in 
information management and accessing relevant WT O information resources. The Symposium will be 
delivered through a combination of presentations and hands-on exercises.  As a response to the lack of 
interaction among RC managers, the Symposium is also intended to strengthen the network of RC 
Coordinators, in ways that they could benefit fro m the experience and knowledge of their colleagues 
working in trade ministries in other Member states.   Emphasis will also be placed on developing the 
RC network at the national level, such that all lo cal stakeholders can benefit from the advantages 
provided by the programme. 
151. During the year the Secretariat  updated the RC c ontacts list, which will help to better identify 
how to improve the network among RC coordinators, and develop a new more global approach on the 
nature of documentation to be sent to the centres.   A new internal and external communications 
strategy was developed aimed at increasing the vi sibility of the RCs through the creation of posters 
and new information media. 
152. A communication and visibility tool, another important aspect of the new strategy, has been 
developed during the year under review, in direct line with the enhancement of the Programme and 
the mandate of ITTC.  In addition to a logo whic h was created last year and which has provided a 
stronger identify to the Programme, several other produc ts were elaborated, i.e. a wall plate (one for 
each RC), a brochure, various posters (to be sent to the RC). They are distributed during the installation missions, open door events or any other pertinent forum.  Separately, a mailing list was 
created for regular dissemination of WTO-related information.    
153. Numerous requests were received by the Secretariat, which demonstrates the interest of the 
Members for this Programme. From the survey, most of the individuals who use the RCs are students, 
government officials, researchers and business people.  
Graph 21 Relative Share of RCs Per Region : 
 
  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 43 
 
 
Table 7 
Reference Centres’ Summary
RCs host countries   85
LDCs   35
WTO Members   69
WTO Observers   14
Not Members or observers   2
    
RCs with no permament mission 
in Geneva   14
WTO Members with no permanent mission in 
Geneva 7 
WTO observers with  no permanent mission in 
Geneva 7 
LDCs with no permanent  mission 
in Geneva   7 
      
    
RC Africa Desk   33
RC Arab & Middle East Countries   5
RC Asian & Pacific   23
RC CEECAC   5
RC LAC & Caribbean   16
RC (no desk) : Kiribati, Romania, 
Switzerland 3
    
English-speaking countries   53
French-speaking countries   25
Spanish-speaking countries   9
      
      
RC LDC English-speaking countries 19
RC LDC French-speaking countries 18
RC LDC Spanish-speaking countries 0
 
 
VIII.   THE GLOBAL TRADE-RELATED TECHN ICAL ASSISTANCE DATABASE 
154. It is recalled that GTAD is the portal for exch anging and sharing information on the future 
execution of TRTA and CB activities and is mainly fo rward looking; it was launched officially by the 
Director-General in November 2010. Uploads by  the WTO and partner agencies to the GTAD are 
done twice a month and the database now holds some 255 upcoming activities. Obviously, as time 
passes, the database will also contain information on p ast activities, so it may at some point fulfil an 
unintended, but potentially useful, reporting function.  There are overall nearly 900 activities contained 
in GTAD. 
155. While there are nearly a dozen of agencies th at have expressed an interest in GTAD as a 
contributing partner, the GTAD at present contains data from the WTO, EIF, STDF, ITC, the 
UNCTAD, and UNIDO.   
156. The WIPO is soon expected to be a partner ag ency, and potentially a very important one, as 
the Secretariat has been working very closely w ith WIPO and assisted them to set up a similar 
database as the internal WTO TRTA database. The WI PO is working with WTO to upload data to the 
GTAD.  WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 44  
 
  157. Other partner agencies that have expressed in terest in uploading projects include the World 
Bank, OIF, FAO, UNECA, and UNECE. The Secretariat is closely interacting with them to sort out 
any issues that may stand in the way. While at th e outset the objective was to closely associate the 
Geneva-based agencies to the GTAD, this will gr adually be expanded to include other bodies and 
secretariats. Also, the Director-General has raised the existence of GTAD at the meeting of the UN 
Chief Executives Board (CEB). 
158. In terms of visits of the relevant Web pag es, since the GTAD was made available to the 
public early Summer 2010, and after the official la unch by the Director-General in November, the 
number of hits has steadily been growing, with several  thousands of hits per month. Since the site is 
very young, it is difficult to extract precise numbers, but the trend is clearly upwards.  More elaborate 
tools are being considered to display and analyse the se data. It is noted that in the first few months 
since its launch, we have mainly had visits to  the GTAD from institutional and academic sources.  
The WTO’s GTAD mail box receives on a regular basis requests for more information on WTO activities, including on training that is available, which underscores the utility of GTAD.   
159. It is also recalled that at the official la unch meeting in November a Steering Group was set 
up, which will hold a meeting with all the agencies in the Spring 2011.  This will be an opportunity 
for stakeholders to share views on how the GTAD is working, to discuss possible enhancements 
which could be made to the interface, and to explor e future developments to increase its visibility. 
The good functioning of the GTAD is a shared responsibility.  
160. The Secretariat has used every single opportu nity available to make a presentation on the 
GTAD and enhance its visibility, including at the IT TC's Open Door, the WTO's Open Day as well as 
at the Public Forum; the ITTC Open Doors have been organized to coincide with official WTO 
meetings, so as to reach out to Members on the ma rgin of those meetings, as well as to WTO staff 
who have always received an invitation in this re gard; WTO staff has been briefed through the TA 
Coordination Task Force, with a live presentati on, followed by a good discussion. Of course, the 
WTO colleagues also benefited from the informa tion presented on GTAD  through the open day/door 
events as well as through the Public Forum. In orde r to disseminate the information wider, brochures 
were prepared and distributed. They can also be downloaded from the GTAD Website homepage. 
161. Finally, with a view to promoting this tool at the regional level, thus reaching stakeholders in 
the field, RC Managers were informed of the o fficial launch in November, and information on the 
GTAD is now systematically being provided by WTO officials undertaking missions in the framework of the RC Programme.   
IX. FINANCIAL SITUATION 
162. Globally, the total cost of the activities included in  the TA Plan for each year of the biennium 
2010 -2011 had been estimated at CHF 30.9 million to be financed from the DDAGTF, regular budget, and other trust funds as follows:  
                                       CHF  million    
Regular budget         5.7  
DDAGTF           24.0   Other Trust Funds        1.2  TOTAL       30.9   163. Actual expenditures in 2010 amounted to CH F 4.1 million, CHF 18.1 million and CHF 1.7 
million financed from the regular budget, DDAG TF and other trust funds respectively.  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 45 
 
 
164. Table 8 and Annex 4 present further details re garding the voluntary contributions received 
and the actual expenditures incurred in th e last four years for the DDAGTF.   
165. It can be noted that, unlike previous years, incoming funds in 2010 were not sufficient to 
cover the expenditures during the year.  This represents  a deterioration in the financial situation of the 
DDAGTF and requires some caution as it is obviously not sustainable to spend more than is received 
on an on-going basis. 
166. The DDAGTF was established in December 2001, pursuant to the commitment contained in 
paragraph 40 of the Doha Declaration, to finance TA programmes and training activities for 
developing and LDCs as well as economies in transition.  One of the purposes for creating a global 
fund was to consolidate the extra-budgetary funds in one single un-earmarked fund, so as to provide a 
solid and stable financial basis for the delivery of  a global programme.  Following the finalization of 
the TA Plan in Autumn 2009, the General Counc il approved the recommended target amount of CHF 
24 million for the planned volume of TA to be fi nanced from the DDAGTF in 2010, thus maintaining 
the cost of the TA Plan at the same level since 2003. 
167. Implementation of the activities under the DDAGTF is  subject to the availability of financial 
resources, which rely on voluntary contributions.  In order to ensure a smooth implementation of the 
TA Plan from the beginning of the year, timely and adequate levels of fundi ng are required.  Most 
activities to be financed under the DDAGTF, and more  specifically larger scale programmes, e.g. 
regional seminars undertaken by the WTO or in pa rtnership with other or ganizations and RTPCs, 
require advance planning of at least three months, if not more.  Under the financial rules, activities 
can only be committed to, if the necessary financing is  in the bank.  The funding benchmarks for the 
DDAGTF, as established by the Members, were as fo llows: (i) by 31 December of the year preceding 
the fund's revolving annual target period, contributio ns amounting to 25 per cent of the total estimated 
costs of the TA Plan should be in the bank, (ii) by 31 March, another 50 per cent for an overall 75 per 
cent of the total, and (ii) by 30 June, 100 per cent of the funds needed.   Unfortunately, the benchmarks were missed in 2010, thus resulting in deferral or cance llation of some activities planned 
under the DDAGTF.   
Table 8 
  
  DDAGTF – CHF 
2007 2008 2009 2010 
Brought forward from previous year 7,266,603 7,778,416 9,541,433 10,868,997 
Contributions received 18,701,871  18,575,868 19,676,896 16,108,998 
Transfers from/to other funds 281,163 0 0  
Interest earned 212,821 221,935 46,180 28,124 
Total funds 26,462,458 26, 576,219 29,264,509 27,006,120 
Total expenditures 18,684,042 17,034,786 18,395,512 18,126,556 
Balance to be carried forward 7,778,416 9,541,433 10,868,997 8,879,564 
 WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 46  
 
  ANNEX 1 
 
Overview of TRTA provided from 1/01/2010 to 31/12/2010 
 
TA Plan chapters National 
activities Regional 
activities Global 
events Other 
(Conferences, 
etc.) Total 
A  General WTO-related Technical 
Assistance and Training  19  23  11  53 12.2% 
A 1.  Trade Policy Courses  11  2  8  21 4.8% 
A 1. (i) Geneva-based Trade Policy 
Courses (TPCs)   2   2 0.5% 
A 1. (ii) Regional Trade Policy Courses 
(RTPCs)  8   7  15 3.5% 
A 1. (iii) Short Regional Trade Policy 
Courses and follow-up 
(SRTPCs)  3   1  4 0.9% 
A 2.  Geneva-based Introduction Courses   2   2 0.5% 
A 3.  Geneva-based Thematic courses   9   9 2.1% 
A 4.  WTO Introduction Days   3   3 0.7% 
A 5.  Geneva Week    2  2 0.5% 
A 6.  Geneva-based Topic-specific 
Symposia   7  1  8 1.8% 
A 8.  Regional and Sub-regional 
Capacity-building programmes( 
Short Trade Policy Courses)  8    8 1.8% 
B  Specialised & Advanced Training & 
Technical Assistance 147  63  4  2  216 49.8% 
B 1.  Geneva-based Specialised Courses   1   1 0.2% 
B 2.  National Technical Assistance 
Activities 144    1  145 33.4% 
B 2. (i) National topic-sp ecific ac tivities 108    1  109 25.1% 
B 2. (ii) Technical Assistance within the 
TPRM Framework 27     27 6.2% 
B 2. (iii) Assisting beneficiaries in 
conducting Needs Assessment 1       
B 2. (iv) Reference Centres 9     9 2.1% 
B 3.  Regional Seminars  48  3   51 11.8% 
B 3. (i) Agriculture  3    3 0.7% 
                                                      
1 Assisting beneficiaries in conducting Needs Asse ssment does not require missions per se, and is 
mostly taken care of through the Netherlands Traine e Programme, the TA missions  within the Trade Policy 
Review Mechanism Framework,  and other national activities.   WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 47 
 
 
TA Plan chapters National 
activities Regional 
activities Global 
events Other 
(Conferences, 
etc.) Total 
B 3. (ii) Dispute Settlement  2    2 0.5% 
B 3. (iii) Government Procurement 
(Plurilateral Agreement on)  2    2 0.5% 
B 3. (iv) Non-Agriculture Market Access 
(NAMA)  9    9 2.1% 
B 3. (ix) TBT  1    1 0.2% 
B 3. (v) Regional Trade Agreements  3    3 0.7% 
B 3. (vi) Rules  1    1 0.2% 
B 3. (vii) SPS  3    3 0.7% 
B 3. 
(viii) Services  6    6 1.4% 
B 3. (x) T & Development  6    6 1.4% 
B 3. (xi) T & Environment  2    2 0.5% 
B 3. (xii) Trade Facilitation   4  3  7 1.6% 
B 3. 
(xiii) TRIPs  6    6 1.4% 
B 4.  Advanced Training Programme for 
senior government officials  3    3 0.7% 
B 5.  Intensive Course on Trade 
Negotiations Skills 3  6    9 2.1% 
B 6.  Outreach Activities for 
Parliamentarians and Civil Society  5   1  6 1.4% 
B 7.  Accessions  1    1 0.2% 
C  Academic Support for Training and 
Capacity-building: an integrated 
approach 35  5  2  20  62 14.3% 
C 1.  WTO Chairs programme 10    3  13 3.0% 
C 2.  University programme 25  5   17  47 10.8% 
C 2. (ii) Workshops for University 
Professors  5    5 1.2% 
C 2. (iii) National workshops 25    2  27 6.2% 
C 2. (v) Other academics events    15  15 3.5% 
C 3.  Doctoral Studies   1   1 0.2% 
C 5.  Research Collaboration   1   1 0.2% 
D  Trainee programmes and Internships   3   3 0.7% 
D 1.  Netherlands Trainee Programme   1   1 0.2% WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 48  
 
  TA Plan chapters National 
activities Regional 
activities Global 
events Other 
(Conferences, 
etc.) Total 
D 2.  WTO Regional Coordinator 
internship   1   1 0.2% 
D 3.  WTO Mission internship   1   1 0.2% 
E  E-learning programme   26   26 6.0% 
E 1.  eTraining: online courses (incl. 
enhancement and misc.)   25   25 5.8% 
E 2.  Self-training modules: computer-
based training modules2   1   1 0.2% 
F  Other Programmes and Support 
Activities 6    4  10 2.3% 
F 2.  Programme activities 6    4  10 2.3% 
F 2. (ii) Integrated 
Framework/Enhanced IF 1    2  3 0.7% 
F 2. (iii) Standards and Trade 
Development Facility (STDF)    2  2 0.5% 
F 2. 
(Viii) Trade Facilitation Needs and 
Priorities 5     5 1.2% 
G  Participation in conferences 1  3   60  64 14.7% 
Total 189  90  58  97  434 100% 
 
                                                      
2 Include Training Modules in English, French and Spanish on the following subjects: Overview of the 
WTO - Trade Finance - Dispute Settlement  - Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - Trade and Services - WTO: 
Economic Underpinnings - WTO: Legal Underpinnings - Accessions procedures - Trade Facilitation - Trade 
Facilitation Needs Assessment - WTO Coheren ce Mandate - Docs Online - WTO Library.  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 49 
 
 
ANNEX 2 
 
Participation to the Netherlands Tr aining Programme from 2005 to 2010 
 
Country Status Year Nb of trainees Region 
Afghanistan LDC 2007 & 2010 2 CEECAC & AMEC 
Angola LDC 2006 1 Africa 
Armenia Low income 2005 1 CEECAC & AMEC 
Bangladesh LDC 2006 1 Asia & Pacific 
Benin LDC 2006 & 2010 2 Africa 
Bhutan LDC 2005 & 2009 2 Asia & Pacific 
Botswana Upper Middle income 2009 1 Africa 
Burkina Faso LDC 2007, 2008, 2010 3 Africa 
Burundi LDC 2005 & 2010 2 Africa 
Cambodia LDC 2007 1 Asia & Pacific 
Cameroun Lower Middle Income 2010 1 Africa 
Central African Republic LDC 2006 & 2010 2 Africa 
Chad LDC 2008 & 2010 2 Africa 
Comoros LDC 2009 1 Africa 
Côte d'Ivoire Low income 2008 1 Africa 
Congo DRP LDC 2008 1 Africa 
Djibouti LDC 2006 1 Africa 
Nepal LDC 2006 1 Asia & Pacific 
Gambia LDC 2007 & 2010 2 Africa 
Ghana Low income 2009 1 Africa 
Guinea LDC 2005 & 2009 2 Africa 
Guinea-Bissau LDC 2007 1 Africa 
Kenya Low income 2005 1 Africa 
Kyrgyz Republic Low income 2006 & 2008 2 CEECAC & AMEC 
Lao PDR LDC 2005 & 2008 2 Asia & Pacific 
Lebanon High income 2005 1 CEECAC & AMEC 
Lesotho LDC 2005 1 Africa 
Liberia LDC 2009 1 Africa 
Madagascar LDC 2007 1 Africa 
Malawi LDC 2006 1 Africa 
Mali LDC 2005 & 2007 2 Africa 
Mauritania LDC 2005 1 Africa 
Mongolia Lower Middle income 2005 1 Asia & Pacific 
Myanmar LDC 2009 1 Asia & Pacific 
Namibia Lower Middle income 2005 1 Africa 
Niger LDC 2008 1 Africa 
Nigeria Low income 2009 1 Africa 
Pakistan Other Low income 2009 1 Asia & Pacific 
Paraguay Low Middle 2006 & 2010 2 LAC & Caribbean 
Rwanda LDC 2006 1 Africa 
Saint Kitts and Nevis High income 2005 1 LAC & Caribbean 
Saint Lucia High income 2006 1 LAC & Caribbean 
Senegal LDC 2006 & 2010 2 Africa 
Sierra Leone LDC 2006 1 Africa 
Sudan LDC 2006 & 2009 2 Africa 
Swaziland Low Middle 2008 & 2010 2 Africa 
Tonga Low Middle 2006 1 Asia & Pacific 
Uganda LDC 2005 & 2008 2 Africa 
Vanuatu LDC 2006 1 Asia & Pacific 
Viet Nam Other Low income 2009 1 Asia & Pacific 
Yemen LDC 2007 & 2010 2 CEECAC & AMEC 
Zambia LDC 2005 & 2010 2 Africa 
Zimbabwe Low income 2005 1 Africa WT/COMTD/W/178 
Page 50  
 
  ANNEX 3 
Participation to the Mission Internship Programme from 2005 to 2010 
 
Country Status Years Nb of interns Region 
Bangladesh LDC 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 4 Asia & Pacific 
Barbados Upper Middle Income 2009 1 LAC & Caribbeans 
Benin LDC 2003, 2006 2 Africa 
Bolivia, Plurinational 
Sate of Lower Middle Income 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 4 LAC & Caribbeans 
Burkina Faso LDC 2009 1 Africa 
Burundi LDC 2006 1 Africa 
Cambodia LDC 2006 1 Asia & Pacific 
Congo RC LDC 2010 1 Africa 
Côte d'Ivoire Low Income 2010 1 Africa 
Cuba Upper Middle Income 2010 1 LAC & Caribbeans 
Djibouti LDC 2009, 2010 2 Africa 
Dominican Republic Lower Middle Income 2009 1 LAC & Caribbeans 
El Salvador Lower Middle Income 2003, 2006, 2007 3 LAC & Caribbeans 
Guinea LDC 2004, 2006 2 Africa 
Kenya Low Income 2003, 2006, 2010 5 Africa 
Laos LDC 2010 1 Asia & Pacific 
Lesotho LDC 2004, 2006, 2007 3 Africa 
Mali LDC 2006, 2010 2 Africa 
Mauritania LDC 2006 1 Africa 
Mauritius Upper Middle Income 2007, 2009 2 Africa 
Mongolia Lower Middle Income 2007, 2010 2 Asia & Pacific 
Mozambique LDC 2010 1 Africa 
Namibia Lower Middle Income 2010 1 Africa 
Nepal LDC 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010 4 Asia & Pacific 
Nicaragua Lower Middle Income 2003, 2005, 2006 3 LAC & Caribbeans 
Nigeria Low Income 2006 1 Africa 
Rwanda LDC 2004, 2007, 2009 3 Africa 
Sri Lanka Lower Middle Income 2009   Asia & Pacific 
Sudan LDC 2010 1 Africa 
Tajikistan Low Income 2010 1 CEECAC & AMEC 
Tanzania LDC 2004, 2005 2 Africa 
Uganda LDC 2005, 2006, 2007 3 Africa 
Uruguay Upper Middle Income 2003 1 LA & Caribbeans 
Viet Nam Low Income 2003 1 Asia & Pacific 
Yemen LDC 2006 1 CEECAC & AMEC 
Zambia LDC 2003, 2008 2 Africa 
  WT/COMTD/W/178
 Page 51 
 
 
ANNEX 4 
 
 DDAGTF Contributions  2007‐2010 
(in CHF)
Donor 2007 2008 2009 2010 Totals
Sweden 2,852,720       2,697,280      2,026,384      2,353,920      9,930,304    
Australia 735,875          986,050         1,525,650      1,952,400      5,199,975    
Norway 1,994,414       2,005,214      1,710,279      1,784,440      7,494,347    
European  Union 1,669,450       1,513,520      1,518,550      1,574,550      6,276,070    
Netherlands 1,395,349       1,472,990      1,472,990      1,472,990      5,814,319    
Germany 1,627,000       1,566,000      1,509,500      1,438,500      6,141,000    
Finland 619,500          1,347,225      1,534,000      1,364,000      4,864,725    
United States 1,123,664       943,941         1,026,109      1,002,654      4,096,368    
France 2,250,500       655,500         2,906,000    
Spain 573,650          571,550         533,750         467,950         2,146,900    
Ireland 1,000,700       1,547,000      1,357,200      409,200         4,314,100    
Japan 648,499          489,316         474,637         395,604         2,008,056    
Korea 427,000          359,800         357,000         344,400         1,488,200    
Austria 320,780          322,320         302,480         285,640         1,231,220    
China 205,600          211,000         200,300         616,900       
Denmark 758,027          205,779         616,746         180,019         1,760,571    
New Zealand 234,450          158,000         392,450       
Liechtenstein 40,000            40,000           40,000           40,000           160,000       
Estonia 32,038            49,425           28,932           110,395       
Luxembourg 722,250          771,500         754,000         2,247,750    
Canada 415,000          404,621         456,121         1,275,742    
Switzerland 800,000          800,000       
Czech Republic 87,265            87,288           174,553       
Romania 165,200          79,450           244,650       
Slovak Republic 60,000            60,000          
Turkey 60,000            50,000           110,000       
Italy 607,840          607,840       
Hong‐Kong, China 300,000          300,000       
Lithuania 220,000          220,000       
Iceland 60,000            60,000          
Latvia 11,200            11,200          
Total Contributions  Received 18,701,871     18,575,869    19,676,896    16,108,999    73,063,635   
Total Number of Donors 27                    24                    19                    19                    31                   
Pledges are indicated  in italics
21.3
18.4
16.418.719.518.7 18.619.7
16.1
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010DDAGTF  Contributions  Received  
(in MCHF)
2.4 
2.0 
1.8 
1.6 
1.5 
1.4 
1.4 
1.0 
0.7 
0.5 
0.4 
0.4 
0.3 
0.3 
0.2 
0.18
0.16
0.0 
0.0 Sweden
Australia
Norway
European  Union
Netherlands
Germany
Finland
United States
France
Spain
Ireland
Japan
Korea
Austria
China
Denmark
New Zealand
Liechtenstein
EstoniaDDAGTF  Contributions  by Donors in 2010
 
__________