Stories

Boosting knowledge of WTO trade rules in CIS countries

7 April 2014
ITC News

Representatives of the business community, government officials and academics from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are in Geneva this week to receive training on the multilateral trading system and implications of World Trade Organization (WTO) trade rules.

The training course organized jointly by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Russian Federation’s Competency Development Center in International Trade, ‘Business Implications of Multilateral Trading Systems’, is being held from 7–11 April at ITC and WTO headquarters in Geneva, covering topics such as tariff instruments of market access, trade remedies, application rules related to technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, the WTO dispute settlement procedure, regulation of trade in services in the WTO, and public procurement policy.

‘Maximizing the benefits of WTO membership and enabling countries to better cope with related challenges will only be possible if understanding of the implications of new rules is widespread among stakeholders,’ said ITC Deputy Executive Director Ashish Shah in his opening remarks on the first day of training.

Introduction to multilateral trade

The course is designed to introduce members of the public and private sectors to the multilateral trading system, WTO trade rules and international trade-dispute settlement procedures. The lectures are aimed at equipping members of the business community, as well as policymakers and representatives of academia, so that they can adapt to the new trade-regulatory environment and become stronger competitors in global markets.

Speakers include representatives of ITC, the WTO, King & Spalding, an international law firm, the Russian Mission to the United Nations and the WTO, and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law, an organization independent of the WTO.

The goal is to develop a series of these training sessions in both the CIS region and in Geneva, depending on demand.

This course was organized in cooperation with the Russian Competency Development Center and the Russian Mission in Geneva.

This training programme was developed within the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between ITC and the Russian government in July 2013.