. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/3 
2 April 2004  
 
(04-1506) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
 
 
 
ITEM 5:  TECHNICAL COOPERATION 
 
Statement by the Representative of UNIDO at the TBT Committee Meeting of 23 March 20041 
  
1. In relation to UNIDO's cooperation with WTO, certainly the most outstanding outcome of 
this last year was the signature of a Memorandu m of Understanding (MoU) in Cancún, to enhance 
cooperation and to implement a joint technical c ooperation programme.  This programme aims to 
achieve a marked increase in developing country exports by removing supply side constraints, 
developing and proving conformity to technical requirements and supporting integration into the 
multilateral trading system.  Armenia, Bolivia, Cu ba, Cambodia, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Ghana and 
Mauritania participate in this pilot programme.  In itial kick-off seminars were held jointly by WTO-
UNIDO in Phnom Penh, Cambodia;  Havana, Cuba a nd La Paz, Bolivia during the first quarter of 
2004.  Similar seminars are being organized in  the other 6 countries in the coming months. 
2. A concerted response is necessary to deliver trade-related technical assistance. In the 
implementation of the programme, WTO and UNIDO ma y invite other speciali zed agencies such as 
UNCTAD, FAO, ISO or the ITC to join according to  their comparative advantages.  Along the same 
lines of thought, namely, strongly supporting the establishment of coordination mechanisms for the 
delivery of TBT-related technical assistance, UN IDO has been supporting the consolidation of the 
Joint Committee on Coordination of Technical Assistance for Metrology, Accreditation and Standardization, and an Expert Group Meeting, sponsored by UNIDO was held last December 2003 
in Vienna. 
3. I am pleased to inform the TBT Committee th at UNIDO and the International Laboratory 
Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) ha ve just launched a publication on "Laboratory Accreditation in 
Developing Economies, Tested Once - Accepted Ever ywhere".  This publication aims at facilitating 
laboratory accreditation bodies in developing countries to participate in the ILAC Mutual Recognition 
Arrangements.  The publication is available el ectronically as CD-ROM version and can be 
downloaded from the UNIDO Website.  A hard copy version is under way and will be distributed to 
the members of this Committee.  
4. UNIDO is committed to continue devel oping demand driven technical cooperation 
programmes and projects related to  the TBT Agreement and has therefore taken very seriously the 
answers to the survey questionnaire G/TBT/W/178 in th e context of the Third Triennial Review.  This 
in-depth analysis shows that the vast major ity of the services provided under the UNIDO Service 
Module Framework are relevant to the needs of the developing countries and fully in line with the 
results of the TBT survey.  
5. Furthermore, the activities led jointly with  other agencies proved successful and fruitful: 
(a) with UNCTAD, WTO and the ITC, we or ganized two seminars in Africa which 
contributed to raising awareness for an inte grated approach to trade capacity building 
for LDCs.  We provided training on TBT, SPS implications as well as trade 
                                                     
 
1 Mr. Alberto Di Liscia, Assistant Director-G eneral and Director, UN IDO Office in Geneva. G/TBT/GEN/3 
Page 2  
 
facilitation.  The seminars were held in A ddis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 2003 for 7 East 
African LDCs, and in Dakar, Senegal, Oc tober 2003, for 11 West African LDCs.  
Altogether 60 participants from the priv ate sector, standards and conformity 
assessment infrastructures, as well as custom  administrations attended the workshops. 
(b) UNIDO and WTO cooperated in the programme  for the South Asian Association of 
Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Within this project, UNIDO, WTO and the 
Government of Bangladesh jointly or ganized and led a Workshop on the 
TBT Agreement in Dhaka, last November.  Thirty high-level participants from 
Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives and Nepal attended the Workshop.  
(c) In the context of the Trade Capacity Building Programme for Central America, 
UNIDO identified around 60 product categori es that encounter trade difficulties in 
foreign markets, thus showing decreases in profits estimated at, at least USD 375 millions, owing to conform ity assessment problems associated with the composition 
of and trends in Central American exports.  An industrial survey of sectors affected, 
led to set priorities aiming to improve th e technical infrastructure necessary for the 
development and harmonization of standard s and conformity assessment procedures.  
A needs assessment fo r the establishment and/or strengthening of National Enquiry 
Points for TBT and SPS was conducted jointly with ITC. 
(d) During the UNIDO General Conference, De cember 2003, a Round Table on “Making 
Trade Work for the Poor” was held with special emphasis on TBT related matters.  
The main focus of discussion was on how to overcome supply side constraints, how 
to develop the productive capacities in a wa y to cope with TBT and SPS measures, 
and to successfully access international ma rkets.  The discussion also covered the 
need to establish and/or upgrade standards and conformity assessment infrastructures for the implementation in particular of the TBT and SPS Agreements.  The Round Table gathered renowned panellists fr om the business community, government 
authorities, academia, civil society and development partners and we are particularly 
thankful for the presence of Dr. Rana, Deputy Director-General of the WTO.  
 
6. Finally, I would like to draw the attention of the Committee that UNIDO has been submitting 
to the OECD/WTO database comprehensive information on our trade related technical assistance.  In the period 2001-May 2003, UNIDO Trade-Related Technical Assistance a nd Capacity Building 
(TR/TACB) activities amounted to around US$35 milli on related to 174 activities.  Seventy projects 
were classified as Trade Policy and Regulations (TPR) amounting to US$19.1 million, while 104 projects with an amount of US$15.8 million were classified under Trade Development (TD). Specifically, 64 activities have been carried out unde r Trade promotion strategy and implementation - 
Industry amounting to US$9.9 million and 24 activ ities under Market Analysis and Development - 
Industry for a total amount of US$5.5 million. 
 
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