I. Background Back to
top
At their first
Conference in Singapore in December 1996, WTO Ministers
adopted the Comprehensive and Integrated WTO Plan of
Action for the Least-Developed Countries which
“envisaged a closer cooperation between the WTO and
other multilateral agencies assisting least-developed
countries” in the area of trade.(1) Pursuant to the Plan of
Action, aimed at improving the overall capacity of
least-developed countries to respond to the challenges
and opportunities offered by the trading system, it was
agreed by the WTO, UNCTAD and ITC Secretariats, in
collaboration with the staff of the IMF, the World Bank
and the UNDP, that an Integrated Framework for the
provision of trade-related technical assistance,
including human and institutional capacity-building, for
supporting trade and trade-related activities of the
least-developed countries and including efforts to
enhance the supply response of these countries should be
drawn up and applied on a case-by-case basis to meet the
needs identified by individual least-developed countries
in the area of trade.
II. Aims of the integrated
framework Back to top
The Integrated
Framework seeks to increase the benefits that
least-developed countries derive from the trade-related
technical assistance available to them from the six
agencies involved in designing this Framework,(2) as well as from other
multilateral, regional and bilateral sources, with a view
to assisting them to enhance their trade opportunities,
to respond to market demands, and to integrate into the
multilateral trading system. The Framework aims to:
- (a) Ensure
that trade-related technical assistance
activities are demand-driven by the least-
developed countries and meet their individual
needs effectively. Account can thereby be taken
of differences in levels of development and
economic structure, and physical characteristics
such as location (e.g. land-locked, island)
and other factors which influence the supply
response to market signals and policy
initiatives. The individual country level will
normally be the locus of activities conducted
under the Integrated Framework, although if
considered appropriate the locus can be
established at the regional or sub-regional
level;
- (b) Enhance
ownership by each least-developed country over
the trade-related technical assistance activities
being provided. This is a key feature of the
Framework. Responsibility for the coordination of
implementation and monitoring of activities under
the Integrated Framework at the country level
will lie primarily with the least-developed
country concerned;
- c) Enable
each agency involved to increase its efficiency
and effectiveness in the delivery of
trade-related technical assistance activities.
The Framework will permit each agency to design
and tailor its individual efforts to meet the
needs of least-developed countries in the light
of full information about the specific needs of
each country and about current and projected
activities being undertaken by other agencies in
the area of trade-related technical assistance.
It will allow the trade-related technical
assistance activities of all the agencies to be
properly coordinated, sequenced and synchronized;
- (d) Keep
under review trade-related technical assistance
activities in individual least- developed
countries, evaluate periodically their success in
meeting the country's needs, review how those
needs change, and adapt the programme of
activities accordingly;
- (e) Provide
comprehensive information about the specific
needs of each least-developed country and about
the trade-related technical assistance activities
of the six agencies involved to other relevant
multilateral and regional intergovernmental
organisations, to bilateral development partners
and to the private sector.
The Integrated
Framework builds upon the experience of relevant related
programmes currently being undertaken by the six agencies
involved. In particular, ITC, UNCTAD and WTO are
collaborating in an Integrated Technical Assistance
Programme for Africa designed to tackle, inter alia,
export supply capabilities. Activities under this
programme for individual African least-developed
countries will be subsumed under the Integrated
Framework.
III.Elements of the
integrated framework Back to top
Trade-related
technical assistance activities may encompass(3):
- (a) Institution-building
to handle trade policy issues (e.g., assistance
to least-developed countries in acceding to the
WTO; enhancing capacities to make and
implement trade policy consistently with WTO
obligations; seeking more effective coordination
among relevant government departments; building a
“core-capacity” to deal with trade
issues within a lead Ministry and the development
of “think tank” capacity in individual
least-developed countries to undertake strategic
analysis on trade issues; strengthening capacity
to participate in the multilateral trading
system, including the implementation and
application of obligations and commitments;
accessing relevant information for negotiations
on traditional and new trade issues);
- (b) Strengthening
of export supply capabilities (e.g.,
strengthening the policy environment for
trade liberalisation; improving competitiveness
of enterprises; increasing investment (including
foreign direct investment) in productive sectors;
removing bottlenecks to increased production of
tradeable goods and services, including through
development of relevant infrastructure; helping
least-developed countries exploit new trading
opportunities);
- (c) Strengthening
trade support services (e.g., trade efficiency
involving trade facilitation, access to trade
finance; support at the enterprise level
including access to business information, use of
information technology, adaptation/development of
new products, advice on standards, packaging,
quality control, marketing and distributional
channels; commercial representation; functioning
of trade promotion organisations; improved
international purchasing and supply management;
promotion of trade in services);
- (d) Strengthening
trade facilitation capabilities (e.g.
modernization and reform of customs and other
government agencies participating in trade
transactions, simplifying export and import
procedures);
- (e) Training
and human resource development. These will be a
large component in each of the above four areas;
and
- (f) Assistance
in the creation of a supportive trade-related
regulatory and policy framework that will
encourage trade and investment.
The steps and
procedures of the Integrated Framework are as follows:
Needs assessment
(a) Trade-related
technical assistance activities will be based on an
assessment of the needs of individual least-developed
countries (4) . Needs assessment is the
responsibility of the least-developed country. When
preparing its needs assessment a least-developed country
is encouraged to involve actively its private sector. A
least-developed country may request assistance to
complete its needs assessment. If such a request is made
to any of the six agencies involved, the agency shall
ensure that it accommodates the request as promptly as
possible and either provides the requested assistance
itself or identifies another appropriate source of
assistance.
(b) Each
least-developed country is encouraged to designate as a
focal point a senior official within a relevant
government ministry, with responsibility for coordinating
the preparation of its initial needs assessment and for
keeping its needs subsequently under review (as well as
for coordinating the implementation and monitoring of its
country programme: see 5(l) below).
(c) Upon
request of the country concerned or the local advisor,
the focal point should be assisted in this task by
resident missions of the UNDP or World Bank or other
intergovernmental agencies engaged at the local level in
trade-related technical assistance activities (including,
as appropriate, agencies other than the six referred to
in paragraph 1) (5). Where assistance of this
kind cannot be provided locally, a least-developed
country is encouraged to explore with the six agencies
involved the possibility for the assistance to be
provided through some other means.
Response of the
six agencies involved
(d) Upon
completion of the needs assessment, the staff of the six
agencies shall consult, together with officials of the
least-developed country concerned, to consider how
trade-related technical assistance activities can best be
designed and sequenced to meet the identified needs most
efficiently and effectively, and to agree provisionally
upon a programme of trade-related technical assistance
activities that can be provided in the light of the
agencies' respective mandates, resources and expertise.
Country-specific
roundtable meetings
(e) The
results of this initial consultation shall be published
and distributed (6), along with the completed
needs assessment of the least-developed country
concerned. The least-developed country, with the
assistance upon request of the local advisor and/or the
six agencies involved, will schedule a Roundtable meeting
at which it will present the conclusions of its needs
assessment and its proposed agenda of trade-related
technical assistance projects to meet the needs,
indicating those for which it has received definitive or
provisional offers of technical assistance. It will take
responsibility for selecting the chairperson of the
Roundtable meeting and the intergovernmental agencies,
bilateral development partners, and members of the
private sector (including non-governmental organisations,
where appropriate) that it wishes to invite to
participate. Where possible, the Roundtable meetings will
be part of the UNDP Round Table cycle, and proceedings
will be included in the World Bank Consultative Group
Meetings and in the UNDP Round Tables”.
(f) Subject to
the availability of resources, the Roundtable meeting
will provide the opportunity to endorse a multi-year
country specific programme of trade-related technical
assistance activities and to designate
implementing/executing agencies, including from among
intergovernmental agencies other than the six core
agencies involved and bilateral development partners and,
where appropriate, the private sector. It will also
provide an occasion for a least-developed country's
development partners to announce interest in financing
and/or providing technical assistance and expertise to
support elements of the programme. The results of the
Roundtable meeting shall be published. Where possible,
the results should be incorporated into World Bank
Country Assistance Strategy documents and into UNDP
Country Strategy Notes.
Coordination
among the six agencies involved
(g) The six
agencies will coordinate closely in applying the
Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical
assistance to least-developed countries. Clear lines of
communication will be maintained between the agencies in
this regard (7), to provide for the regular
exchange of information related to activities conducted
under the Integrated Framework and to facilitate access
by least-developed countries to the resources of the six
agencies. Inter-agency coordination will enable the
agencies to avoid overlap and duplication, and allow them
to properly sequence and synchronize trade-related
technical assistance to individual least-developed
countries.
(h) The six
agencies shall ensure that all of the trade-related
technical assistance activities they provide, whether
individually or in collaboration with other agencies,
shall be properly coordinated with the country programme
implemented under the Integrated Framework. Joint
activities among two or more of the participating
agencies will be actively encouraged.
(i) Whenever
needs common to many least-developed countries (e.g.
thematic or regional) can be identified, the six agencies
should coordinate in developing appropriate technical
assistance programmes to meet these needs. This would
ensure that a pool of core technical assistance
activities could be provided, upon request, flexibly and
promptly.
Financing
(j) Each of
the six agencies shall finance from its existing
resources - or, as necessary, shall seek additional
finance with the active support of the least-developed
country concerned for - those trade-related
technical assistance activities in the country programmes
for which it is responsible. Where resources additional
to those currently available for trade-related technical
assistance activities are required, they may be mobilised
through bilateral and multilateral channels, including
from both traditional and non-traditional sources.
Programmes referred to under sub-paragraph (i), broader
in nature than country-specific programmes, could be
submitted collectively for financing to the donor
community either through existing channels or through ad
hoc meetings.
Implementation
and monitoring
(k) Each of
the six agencies shall be responsible for agreeing with
the government of each least-developed country concerned
the specific modalities and exact timing of its
trade-related technical assistance activities.
(l) The role
of coordinating the implementation and monitoring of the
trade-related technical assistance activities conducted
under the Integrated Framework shall be primarily the
responsibility of the least-developed country concerned.
It may seek assistance in this regard, as necessary, from
the six agencies involved or the local advisor, for
example, to establish and maintain a database of current
trade-related technical assistance activities being
conducted in the country concerned.
Review and
evaluation of country programmes
(m) Implementation
of each country programme of trade-related technical
assistance activities shall be reviewed and evaluated
regularly (generally on an annual basis) by the staff of
the six agencies involved and officials of the
least-developed countries concerned. A schedule for
reviews and evaluations shall be included in the country
programme. The results will be reported at the respective
country-specific World Bank Consultative Group Meetings
and UNDP Roundtables, or at ad hoc meetings
arranged periodically to review the country programme
and, as necessary, to adjust and update it, for example
in the light of the changing needs of the least-developed
country concerned (these ad hoc meetings
would be conducted in the same way as the initial
Roundtable meetings described under 5(e)). The
development partners of each least-developed country
would be associated in the review and evaluation of the
country programme in that context. Whenever considered
necessary, an external evaluation of a country programme
could be decided on at such occasions.(8)
Maintenance and
publication of a core inventory
(n) The six
agencies involved shall maintain and publish an
integrated database, by country, of the trade-related
technical assistance activities they undertake within the
scope of this Integrated Framework. The operation of this
Integrated Framework will be reviewed by the six agencies
involved after two years in the light of experience and
taking into account the views of individual
least-developed countries where it has been applied. In
conducting this review, the views of least-developed
countries' other development partners will be sought. A
report on the results of this review will be made
available to the States members of UNCTAD and WTO Members
through the appropriate channels.
Check-list
for conducting Trade-related technical cooperation needs
assessment Back to top
This check-list has
been drafted in preparation for the High-Level Meeting on
Least-Developed Countries, called for by the WTO
Ministerial Conference in December 1996. The High-Level
Meeting will take place on 27 and 28 October 1997, in
Geneva.
It is intended to
provide governments of the least developed countries with
a tool to facilitate the preparation of their needs
assessments for trade-related technical cooperation, as
elaborated below.
The objective of
the check-list is to obtain an overall appreciation of
the needs for technical cooperation in trade-related
matters in least-developed countries, broadly defined to
include technical assistance and human and institutional
capacity building, both in the immediate and longer run.
The results of this needs assessment will serve as inputs
to design a coherent and integrated framework for
external assistance to support trade-related activities
of least-developed countries at all levels, including
efforts to enhance the supply response of these
countries. The resulting framework will form one of the
main items for consideration at the High-Level Meeting in
October; it is intended also that, at the Meeting, the
framework will be used to apply a coherent and integrated
programme of trade-related technical cooperation to meet
the needs of individual least-developed countries.
While it is
expected that the needs assessment will be carried out by
the least-developed countries themselves in order to
ensure that the process overall is properly
demand-driven, facilities for assistance to the
governments of individual least-developed countries in
completing their needs assessment can be made
available upon request by the six international
organisations most closely involved in organising the
High-Level Meeting (the International Monetary Fund, the
International Trade Centre, UNCTAD, UNDP, the World Bank
and the WTO). Requests for assistance of this kind should
be sent to the Director, Development Division,WTO
Secretariat, who will forward the requests to the other
five agencies.
The
check-list is organized under the following headings:
A. Trade
policy
B. Obstacles/impediments
to LDC's efforts to expand trade:
(i) supply constraints:
- problems
related to physical infrastructure e.g. internal
transportation, shipping, air transport, ports,
warehousing, telecommunications, etc.
- problems
related to institutional capacity, including quality
control
- inadequate
investment, domestic and foreign.
(ii) trade
promotion and trade support services
(iii) in
external markets
- gap
in trade information;
- market
access problems;
- marketing
/ distribution problems
- other
problems in export markets.
C. Technical
assistance:
(i) Need
for technical assistance
(ii) New
information/communication technologies
Check-list Back to
top
A. Trade
Policy
(a) What are
the sectors that you believe have unexploited or
underexploited export potential?
(b) Could you
please define your country's perspective of the reasons
for any changes in the structure and direction of exports
and imports?
(c) What have
been the objectives of trade policy in the most recent
period, compared to, say, two decades ago?
(d) What are
the Ministries in charge of trade policy matters,
including formulation, implementation, enforcement and
monitoring? How is coordination made? What are the
respective roles of the relevant Ministries (give
particular attention to tariff policies and other
policies directly affecting exports and imports of goods
and services)?
(e) How are
the private sector and academic institutions associated
with the formulation and conduct of trade policy?
(f) What
are the institutions in your country that can play a role
in implementation of a trade-related project at the local
level? State their respective roles.
(g) What are
the main laws and regulations dealing with trade policy -
on exports and imports? Please provide a short
description of each.
(h) What are
the main instruments of trade policy - on exports and
imports? Please elaborate (e.g. on import restrictions,
the questions might be: on what products are there any
import bans; on what products are there quantitative
import restrictions; licensing requirements, etc.; what
is the highest tariff rate currently in use; are there
any excise taxes, other “domestic” taxes that
are applied differentially to imported goods, or to goods
of a type that are principally imported?).
(i) In case
you are a WTO Member or are in the process of acceding,
how is your country preparing itself to comply with the
WTO Agreements?
(j) What is
the state of familiarity with the WTO framework:
- among
government and government-related agencies?
- in
the private sector?
(k) What are
your technical assistance requirements with regard to
your compliance with the WTO Agreements?
(l) In which
specific areas of the WTO Agreements do you have
technical assistance needs (e.g. market access,
agriculture, rules (anti-dumping, subsidies, import
licensing, rules of origin, safeguards etc.), TBT and
SPS, Services, TRIPs)?
(m) What is
your assessment of your existing trade analysis and
negotiating capacities, both multilateral and bilateral,
in areas already covered by the WTO Agreements and other
trade-related areas, e.g. competition policy and trade
and environment?
B. Obstacles
to Trade Expansion
Obstacles to
trade encompassing problems in export markets,
infrastructure, human capacities, institutional
bottlenecks, trade financing problems and gaps in trade
information can inhibit a least-developed country
from taking full advantage of trading opportunities.
Supply
constraints, including institutional bottlenecks
(a) What are
the main bottlenecks inhibiting the development of
sustained export capacity of goods and services
(e.g. customs facilitation, freight charges, quality
management, elimination of cumbersome legal and
administrative procedures, paucity of human skills,
access at international prices to imported inputs, or
inadequate telecommunication, port and transport
facilities etc.) ?
- Land-locked
countries may face additional problems, such as having to
ship using costly or unreliable transport and ports
systems. In case this applies to your country, please
indicate such problems. What kind of technical assistance
would help you work out these problems?
(b) Are there
any institutional bottlenecks, which may impede
the efficient conduct of your country's trade policies?
Provide details. For example, what are the problems
perceived by the different actors, e.g. exporters,
producers, service providers (banks, insurance companies,
quality control, transporters etc), professional
associations and Ministries? Are problems mainly
perceived in the area of:
(i) human
resources
(ii) management
of the institution
(iii) financial and material
resources
(iv) communication
(c) What are
the main bottlenecks to export diversification?
(d) If investment
in the production of goods and services is inadequate,
what are the main reasons ? Please elaborate them (e.g.
structural constraints, difficulties in attracting
foreign investment, limited enterprise development,
financing, lack of appropriate technology, etc)
(e) Is there a
national policy to encourage export-related investment
opportunities? Please
elaborate.
What arrangements are in place for reviewing, drafting
and negotiating contractual arrangements with foreign
investors?
(f) What are
the main obstacles to the transfer, development and
acquisition of technology? Is there any national
policy/strategy in this area? Please elaborate.
(g) What are
your technical assistance or other assistance needs with
respect to supply
constraints.
Trade Promotion
and Trade Support Services
Trade promotion
comprises an integrated set of technical and financial
services to enhance the global competitiveness of enterprises
and thus facilitate their entry and increasing
participation in international trade.
(h) Do your
enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises,
experience difficulties
in
expanding their exports? What are these problems in the
major export sectors?
(i) What
are the problems for your enterprises in obtaining
reliable and up-to-date information on export/import
business opportunities?
(j) Can your
enterprises offer products of internationally acceptable
design, quality and
packaging
to foreign buyers? If not, what are the
problems?
(k) What
problems, other than in terms of trade policy, do you
anticipate in developing the export of services (e.g.
computer software, tourism)?
(l) What are
the technical/professional problems encountered by trade
support institutions (e.g. trade promotion council,
chamber of commerce, exporters association, etc) in your
country in providing their services to export/import
enterprises?
(m) What
problems and deficiencies are experienced by enterprises
in their international purchasing and inventory
management?
(n) What are the
present availability and arrangements for trade finance
facilities (e.g. export credit guarantees, etc)? Are
there any perceived deficiencies in this area?
(o) What are
the main problems in the way of improving export/import
management skills of your business enterprises? Do you
have training programmes in the country? What are the
deficiencies?
(p) Does your
trade representation service actively promote your trade?
What are the weaknesses?
(q) Briefly
describe your technical assistance needs in the area of
trade promotion and support
services.
Market access
(r) What are
your main market access problems?
(s) What
specific problems or barriers, and in which countries,
are most troublesome for your exporters?
(t) Regional and
sub-regional trading arrangements (RTAs): please list
RTAs to which your country belongs. Are you satisfied
with the performance with these RTAs? Please state the
problems of each. Do you have suggestions on how to solve
these?
(u) Are there
any problems in utilizing the existing market access
preferences, such as GSP, GSTP? Please state the nature
of problems relating to each of these.
(v) What are
your technical assistance needs with respect to market
access?
C. Technical
Assistance
Technical
assistance is normally provided to developing and
least-developed countries to build or enhance their human
resources and institutional capacities, provide trade
information and trade-related legal support, as well as
improve their supply capabilities in order to make them
more active players in the field of multilateral trade.
(a) To the
extent this kind of information is easily available,
could you please briefly describe what trade-related
assistance you have received over the past five years
from bilateral and multilateral sources and what
projects/programmes are presently under consideration in
this area?
(b) Please
summarize your technical assistance needs as well as
other needs as reflected in this check-list. Please rank
them in terms of priority.
(c) In the
light of the information you have been able to provide so
far in response to the questions in this check-list, what
types of information are, in your view, still missing or
could be improved upon? In order to assist you in
providing this missing information, would you need
technical assistance?
(d) Does your
country have the technological capacity and human
resources to make use of the new information/
communication technology tools such as CD-Rom, the
Internet etc.? What assistance
would you need to enable your country to use these tools
in the context of training and, more generally, in the
context of trade development?
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