Development and building trade capacity

This section provides insight into the role of Aid for Trade in fostering sustainable development and helping developing countries address emerging challenges, such as navigating transitions towards low-carbon economies and accelerating digital transformation. It reviews how sustainability considerations have been embedded into Aid for Trade projects and programmes, and highlights the contribution of Aid for Trade towards various Sustainable De Read More

This chapter provides an overview of the evolution of Aid for Trade flows in a context marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. It reviews key trends affecting the trade and investment landscape and their repercussions on Aid for Trade flows. Finally, it analyses the role of Aid for Trade in supporting an equitable global economic recovery

The 2022 Aid for Trade Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) exercise takes place amidst crises of unprecedented magnitude, significantly affecting trade and investment. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe human and economic losses, slowing down and in some cases reversing hard won progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Countries lacking the capacity to implement large monetary and fiscal stimuli were hit hard, experienc Read More

Los PDSL constituyen un grupo muy especial de países que se enfrentan a dificultades muy atípicas. Para hacer frente a estos desafíos será necesario adoptar medidas concretas destinadas a integrar más plenamente a los PDSL en el sistema multilateral de comercio. En el presente informe se han identificado algunas de las esferas y cuestiones respecto de las que tanto los propios PDSL como las organizaciones y países de tránsito involucra Read More

Among the outreach activities I have undertaken since becoming Director-General have been very detailed and substantive meetings with landlocked developing countries (LLDCs). They have told me how the particular barriers they face due to a lack of territorial access to the sea and isolation from the world’s largest markets restrict the free flow of trade and impose constraints on their socio-economic development. The COVID-19 pandemic has Read More

The TFA contains several provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit, and easing trade bottlenecks at borders. It sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues. A key pillar of the TFA is a series of provisions for technical assistance and capacity building (TACB). Entering into force on 22 February 201 Read More

Trade is critical to the economic growth of countries, which means facilitating trade is a priority for governments. Landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) are without direct territorial access to a sea or ocean, so ease of trade is linked to their survival.

The WTO’s TBT Agreement entered into force with the establishment of the WTO on 1 January 1995. It aims to ensure that product requirements in regulations and standards (on safety, quality, health and the environment) as well as procedures for assessing product compliance with such requirements (certification, testing, inspection, accreditation) are not unjustifiably discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.1 The TBT A Read More

The WTO SPS Agreement sets out the basic rules for food safety and animal and plant health standards. It aims to strike a balance between WTO members’ rights to protect human, animal or plant life or health, and their obligation not to restrict trade more than necessary. Given the technical and costly nature of some of these measures, certain sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements imposed by importing members could be difficult to meet for LLD Read More

Countries have put in place a range of restrictions on the movement of persons across borders, especially for non-essential purposes, as well as export prohibitions on essential goods and food. There has been a proliferation of measures banning the export of essential medical supplies as well as food, paired with measures to facilitate the import of the same types of product (i.e. value added tax and import duty exemptions).

Trade plays a critical role in achieving the development objectives of LLDCs and is key to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular target 17.11: significantly increase the exports of developing countries.

L’AFE contient plusieurs dispositions visant à accélérer le mouvement, la mainlevée et le dédouanement des marchandises, y compris les marchandises en transit, et à atténuer les goulets d’étranglement d’ordre commercial aux frontières. Il prévoit des mesures permettant d’assurer une coopération effective entre les douanes et les autres autorités compétentes pour les questions de facilitation des échanges et de respect des procédures douanières. L’ Read More

Les PDSL forment un groupe de pays très spécifiques, soumis à des contraintes très atypiques. Pour remédier à leurs difficultés, des mesures spéciales devront être adoptées afin d’intégrer davantage ces pays dans le système commercial multilatéral. Le présent rapport a identifié certains des domaines et certaines des questions vis à vis desquels des mesures ciblées doivent être prises pour atténuer les goulets d’étranglement d’ordre commercial – Read More

L’Accord OTC de l’OMC est entré en vigueur à la création de l’OMC le 1er janvier 1995. Il vise à faire en sorte que les prescriptions relatives aux produits figurant dans les réglementations et les normes (concernant la sécurité, la qualité, la santé et l’environnement) ainsi que les procédures d’évaluation de la conformité des produits avec ces prescriptions (certification, essais, inspection, accréditation) ne soient pas indûment discriminatoires et ne créen Read More

Le commerce joue un rôle crucial dans la réalisation des objectifs de développement des PDSL et s’avère essentiel pour réaliser les objectifs de développement durable (ODD), notamment la cible 17.11: augmenter de manière significative les exportations des pays en développement.

The WTO’s TBT Agreement entered into force with the establishment of the WTO on 1 January 1995. It aims to ensure that product requirements in regulations and standards (on safety, quality, health and the environment) as well as procedures for assessing product compliance with such requirements (certification, testing, inspection, accreditation) are not unjustifiably discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. The TBT Agr Read More

El comercio reviste una importancia crítica para el crecimiento económico de los países, por lo cual la facilitación del comercio es una prioridad para los Gobiernos. Los países en desarrollo sin litoral (PDSL) carecen de acceso territorial directo a un mar u océano, de modo que la facilitación del comercio está vinculada a su supervivencia.

Depuis ma désignation au poste de Directrice générale, j’ai entrepris un certain nombre d’activités d’ouverture, parmi lesquelles des réunions techniques très approfondies avec les pays en développement sans littoral (PDSL). Ces pays m’ont dit en quoi leurs contraintes particulières, liées à l’absence d’accès territorial à la mer et à l’isolement par rapport aux grands marchés mondiaux, limitent la libre circulation des échanges, et entravent leur dévelop Read More