Terms and conditions

    Terms of Use

    The International Trade Centre (hereinafter referred to as “ITC”), with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is a joint subsidiary organ of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Parent Organizations”).

    1 Agreement to be bound by Terms of Use

    1.1 ITC maintains this website (the “Website”) as a courtesy to those who may choose to access the Website (“Users”). The information presented herein is for informative purposes only. ITC grants permission to Users to visit the Website and to download and copy the information, documents and materials (collectively “Materials”) from the Website for the User’s personal, non-commercial use, without any right to resell or redistribute them or to compile or create derivative works therefrom, subject to the terms outlined below. Special terms and conditions apply to the usage of Materials within ITC’s Market Analysis Tools.

    1.2 By using ITC’s Website, including through registering for an account or using associated Products and Services, you acknowledge and agree to abide by these Terms of Use (the “Terms of Use”). Please read the Terms of Use carefully before proceeding to access and use ITC's Website, or registering for an account, as you will be bound by these Terms of Use and your access to, and use of, the Website is conditional on your acceptance of and compliance with these Terms of Use.

    1.3 If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you are not authorised to access or otherwise use this Website or any related Products or Services, nor can you proceed with the registration process to become a Registered User (“Registered User”).

    1.4 For the usage of ITC’s Market Analysis Tools additional special Terms and Conditions apply.

    2 Privacy Policy

    As part of accessing or using the Website and associated Products and Services, ITC may collect, access, use and share certain Personal Information and Cookies (as defined in the Privacy Policy) from, and/or about, you. Please read ITC Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference, for a description of such data collection and use practices.

    3 Website and associated Products and Services

    3.1 ITC offers products and services accessible through its Website (hereinafter the "Products" and "Services").

    3.2 ITC grants permission to Registered Users to use Products and Services accessible through registration.

    3.3 ITC’s authorisation of the User to visit the Website and to consult the Materials made available online under these Terms of Use is for the User’s personal and non-commercial use only, without any right to resell or redistribute them or to compile or create derivative works therefrom, subject to the terms outlined below, and also subject to more specific provisions that may apply to specific Material within this Website.

    4 Behaviour guidelines on Forums and in using User’s Interaction Tools

    4.1 This Website may contain bulletin boards, interactive forms, feedback, contact pages, discussion fora, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers, access to mailing lists or other message or communication facilities (hereinafter collectively, “Forums”) and private communication channels to be used in the context of the Services delivery (hereinafter “User’s Interaction Tools”). The Registered User agrees to use the Forums and the User’s Interaction Tools only to send and receive messages and materials that are proper and related to the particular Forum and/or User’s Interaction Tool.

    4.2 By way of example and not as a limitation, the Registered User agrees that when using a Forum and/or User’s Interaction Tool, they shall not do any of the following:

    1. defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others;
    2. publish, post, distribute or disseminate any defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful material or information;
    3. upload or attach files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or by rights of privacy and publicity) unless the User owns or controls the rights thereto or has received all consents as may be required by law;
    4. upload or attach files that contain viruses, corrupted files or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer;
    5. delete any author attributions, legal notices or proprietary designations or labels in any file that is uploaded;
    6. falsify the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file that is uploaded;
    7. advertise or offer to sell any goods or services, or conduct or forward surveys, contests or chain letters, or download any file posted by another user of a Forum and/or User’s Interaction Tool that the Registered User knows, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed in such manner.

    4.3 The Registered User acknowledges that all Forums are public and not private communications. Further, the Registered User acknowledges that chats, postings, conferences, e-mails, and other communications by other Registered Users are not endorsed by the ITC unless expressly stated otherwise, and that such communications shall not be considered to have been reviewed, screened, or approved by the ITC.

    4.4 ITC reserves the right to remove, for any reason and without notice, any content of the Forums and/or User Interaction Tools received from the Registered User, including, without limitation, e-mail, and bulletin board postings.

    5 Third-party websites        

    ITC’s Website may include links and references to third-party websites. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you including your Personal Data. ITC has no control over, and is not responsible for, these third-party websites or how they process data, and ITC is not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of any third party. ITC provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of a link or reference does not imply the endorsement of the linked website by ITC. When you leave the Website, ITC encourages you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

    6 Disclaimers

    6.1 This Website and any of its contents including the Material and associated Products and Services provided on this Website are provided “as is” and “with all faults” and are subject to change, without warranty or representation of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. ITC specifically does not make any warranties or representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the Website and any of its contents, including the Material and associated Products and Services. ITC periodically adds, changes, improves or updates this Website and its contents including the Material and associated Services without any notice.

    6.2 Official documents published on this Website are unofficial copies, provided for informational purposes only.

    6.3 The availability of the Website, any of its contents including the Material and associated Services are not guaranteed. ITC does not warrant or promise that the Website and any of its contents including the Material and the Services will always be available or fully functional and reserve the right to withdraw the Website, any of its contents including the Material and the Services at any time.

    6.4 The Website may contain advice, opinions and statements of various information providers. ITC does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided by any information provider, any User or Registered User of this Website or any other person or entity. Reliance upon any such advice, opinion, statement, or other information shall also be at the User’s or Registered User’s own risk. Neither ITC nor its Parent Organizations, nor any of their respective agents, employees, information providers or content providers, shall be liable to any User, Registered User or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, alteration of or use of any content herein, or for its timeliness or completeness, nor shall they be liable for any failure of performance, computer virus or communication line failure, regardless of cause, or for any damages resulting therefrom.

    6.5 The designations employed and contained on the Website, any of its contents including the Material and associated Products and Services, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of ITC and its Parent Organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The term “country” as used on the Website, any of its contents including the Material and associated Products and Services, also refers, as appropriate, to territories or areas.

    7 Country and area nomenclature

    7.1 The designations employed and the presentation of Material in this Website do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the International Trade Centre and its Parent Organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The term “country” as used in this Material also refers, as appropriate, to territories or areas.

    7.2 The depiction and use of boundaries, geographic names and related data shown on maps and included in lists, tables, documents, and databases on this website are not warranted to be error-free nor do they necessarily imply official endorsement or acceptance by ITC or its Parent Organizations.

    7.3 The designations “developed”, “developing” regions and economies “in transition” are intended for statistical and analytical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process.

    8 Exclusion of liability           

    Under no circumstances whatsoever, including but not limited to negligence, shall ITC or its Parent Organizations be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential costs, losses, claims, damages, expenses or proceedings of whatever nature incurred or suffered by any User or Registered User arising directly or indirectly in connection with their use of this Website, any of its contents including the Material and the Products and Services, including without limitation, any fault, error, omission, interruption or delay with respect thereto or due to any unavailability of parts or all of the Website and any of its contents including the Material and the Services, even if the ITC has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The User or Registered User specifically acknowledges and agrees that the ITC and its Parent Organizations are not liable for any conduct of any User or Registered User.

    9 Indemnity

    As a condition of use of this Website, the User or Registered User agrees to indemnify and hold harmless ITC and its Parent Organizations from and against any and all actions, claims, losses, damages, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out or in connection with the User’s or Registered User’s use of this Website, any of its contents including the Material and associated Products and Services, including, without limitation, any claims alleging facts that if true would constitute a breach by the User or Registered User of these Terms of Use. If the User or Registered User is dissatisfied with this Website, any of its contents including the Material and the Services or with its Terms of Use, the User’s or Registered User’s sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue the use and registration on the Website, its contents or associated Products and Services.

    10 Intellectual property rights

    10.1 All content included in or made available through the Website, including the Material, the associated Products and Services, the Service Material (as set out in Clause 11 below) and material such as software, application programming interfaces, designs, text, graphics, button icons, editorial materials, informational text, photographs, illustrations, audio clips, video clips, artwork and other graphic materials, and names, logos, trademarks and services marks, digital downloads, data compilations and any and all related or underlying technology and any modifications, enhancements or derivative works of the foregoing (collectively, “ITC Intellectual Property”) is the exclusive property of ITC protected by applicable copyright or other intellectual property laws and treaties.

    10.2 Except for use of the Material in accordance with Clause 1 above, the User or Registered User may not extract and/or re-utilise parts of the ITC Intellectual Property.

    10.3 ITC Intellectual Property may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not ITC’s, in any manner that is likely to cause confusion among beneficiaries or in any manner that disparages or discredits ITC or its Parent Organizations. All other intellectual proprieties not owned by ITC that may appear on the Website are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with or connected to ITC and the User is responsible for obtaining any required permission for the use thereof.

    11 License and ownership  

    Any tools, methodologies, documents or other materials (collectively referred as to the “Service Material”) distributed or rendered accessible, as the case may be, by ITC to a Registered User in the framework of the Services, are provided to the Registered User on a non-exclusive basis as a means to ensure timely implementation of activities under a specific project and technical work on a non-commercial basis, uniquely for use of the Registered User. The Registered User acknowledges and agrees that all rights, title and interests in and to the Service Material, including without limitation the copyright to the Service Material and all intellectual property rights therein, belong to and are possessed or owned by ITC and that ITC retains the right to make such use of the Services Material as it may consider necessary in its sole discretion. The Registered User shall therefore refrain from attributing in any manner whatsoever the Service Material or any portion thereof to itself or to any person or entity other than ITC.

    12 ITC legal status

    12.1 The International Trade Centre is a joint subsidiary organ of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations and enjoys, pursuant to inter alia the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 13 February 1946, such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent fulfilment of its purposes.

    12.2 Nothing contained in or relating to these Terms of Use shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or a waiver, express or implied, of the privileges and immunities of the ITC, which are specifically reserved.

    13 General rights of ITC

    13.1 ITC reserves its exclusive right in its sole discretion to alter, limit or discontinue the Website, any of its contents including the Material and associated Products and Services in any respect. ITC shall have no obligation to take the needs of any User or Registered User into consideration in connection therewith.

    13.2 ITC reserves the right to deny in its sole discretion any User or Registered User access to this Website or any portion thereof and any of its contents including the Material and associated Products and Services without any prior notice.

    13.3 No waiver by ITC of any provision of these Terms of Use shall be binding except as set forth in writing and signed by its duly authorized representative.

    14 Amendments

    We may update these Terms of Use from time to time by publishing a new version on the Website. ITC thus encourages you to visit this section of the Website regularly in order to keep up to date with any changes. Changes to the Terms of Use will apply from the date they are posted on the Website and shall not apply retroactively.

    15 Request for reproducing ITC content

    Use this form to request permission from the International Trade Centre to use its website content, an article, a publication or a section, chapter, paragraph, extract, quotes, table, figures, drawing, map or photographic work appearing in any ITC article or publication and return it to: itcreg [at] intracen.org

    16 Copyright © International Trade Centre (ITC) - All rights reserved

    None of the materials provided on this website may be used, reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or printing (including photocopying), recording or the use of any information storage and retrieval system (except as provided in the above section "Request for reproducing ITC content"), without permission in writing from the publisher.

    Please contact ITC (itcreg [at] intracen.org (itcreg[at]intracen[dot]org)) to request such permission and for related enquiries.

    17 Contact details

    You can contact ITC to verify or rectify your Personal Data using the ITC Website contact form here or by post to:

    International Trade Centre

    Palais des Nations

    CH-1211 Geneva 10

    Switzerland

    18 Version details

    This policy was last updated 01 November 2023 and supersedes all previous versions.

    ITC Privacy Policy

    The International Trade Centre (hereinafter referred to as “ITC”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is a joint subsidiary organ of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

    By using ITC’s Website, including through registering for an account or using associated Products and Services, you acknowledge and agree to abide by this Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”). Please read the Privacy Policy carefully before proceeding to access and use ITC's webpages, or registering for an account.

    As ITC we are aware of the importance of the United Nations Personal Data Protection and Privacy Principles and of putting them into effect. As a result, ITC has adopted this Privacy Policy that enables us to undertake our operations whilst securing your personal data. Through this Privacy Policy, we wish to inform you about the collection, retention, securing and processing of your personal data in the context of your registration, visit to and/or use of this website (the “Website”) regardless of where you visit it from or how you access it.

    ITC will process your data in a fair manner, in accordance with your consent and best interests and consistent with our mandate and governing instruments. Any personal data collected through your use of the Website, or disclosed to ITC by registrants of the Website, is processed for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy, or in the relevant pages of the Website. Your personal data will not be processed in ways that are incompatible with such purposes.

    1 Definitions

    Registered users of our Websites, Products and Services are termed “Registered Users”. All other users are defined as “Visitors” for the purposes of this Privacy Policy.

    It is important that you read this Privacy Policy, together with any other privacy policy ITC may provide on specific occasions when ITC is collecting or processing personal data about you, so that you are completely aware of how and why ITC is collecting and processing your data.

    This Privacy Policy complements other policies of ITC, incl. of other websites operated by ITC, and is not intended to supplant them. You must also check the Terms of Use, as well as any other terms and conditions that may regulate the use of this Website, the Products and Services channelled throughout the same.

    2 The Personal Data we collect

    Providing personal data is your choice. When you register and create a user account with ITC, you knowingly provide ITC with personal data about you.

    The type of personal data we ask you to provide will be duly set out on the relevant page of the Website when you register. This information may include your name, surname, email address, and phone number, as well as other personal data about you. Such personal data relating to you are referred to as your “Personal Data”.

    Providing your Personal Data is voluntary, but failure to provide certain Personal Data we request could prevent you from using certain Products and Services or accessing certain parts of the Website.

    While you accept responsibility for the accuracy of the Personal Data you provide, ITC will take reasonable steps to erase, verify or rectify inaccurate, outdated or incomplete Personal Data that you bring to ITC’s attention via the contact details below (Section 11).

    3 Cookies

    When you visit ITC’s Website, or register or supply Personal Data through the ITC’s Website, cookies may automatically be installed on the browser software of your computer, mobile phone or other device.

    Cookies are small data files made up of letters and numbers stored on your computer or other devices when you access the Website. ITC uses cookies to collect information about you to the extent necessary to ensure its Website functionality and performance, as well as for the purposes of targeting its audience and tailoring the content offered to the public, both on the Website and elsewhere. ITC sends cookies when you visit and use the Website, download material, and/or request a Product or Service or information. Accepting the cookies used on the Website does not give ITC access to your personally identifiable information, but it may be possible to use the cookies to identify your IP address or computer. Encrypted information gathered from cookies is used for technical purposes, such as to understand the performance of the Website and improve your experience while using it.

    Setting cookies allows ITC to provide you with a better Product or Service, to improve your experience on the Website and to understand how the Website and other communication efforts are performing. In continuing to use the Website, you consent to ITC collecting, storing and using additional information about your computer, and your visits to and use of the Website (including your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths).

    If you do not wish to have cookies installed on your computer or mobile device, you can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie, giving you the opportunity to decide whether to accept it or not. You can also set your browser to turn off cookies. If you do so, however, some areas of the Website may not function properly.

    Some of the cookies you may receive when visiting the Website are not related to ITC. For example, if you visit sections of the Website that contain embedded content such as a Twitter feed, or a plugin such as a Facebook ‘like’ button, as well as a directory member website link, you may receive cookies delivered from these websites. ITC does not govern the settings or use of these third-party cookies, so ITC suggests that you visit these websites for more information about their cookies and applicable cookie and privacy policies. ITC cannot be held responsible for the privacy of data collected by websites that it does not own or manage, even if these websites link to the Website. Modern web browsers provide the ability to disable third-party cookies, or even all cookies.

    4 How we use your Personal Data

    The Personal Data that Registered Users submit through the Website will be only used for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy, or in the relevant pages of the Website when applicable. Processing of Personal Data will be relevant, limited and adequate to what is required for these purposes.

    ITC may use the Personal Data it collects from Registered Users to:

    provide access to the Website and associated Products and Services;

    administer the Website and activities;

    generate analytical information for ITC about its user base;

    personalise the Website and associated Products and Services;

    enable use of Products and Services available on the Website;

    send Registered Users non-marketing commercial communications by email;

    send email or SMS notifications that Registered Users have specifically requested;

    send email newsletters to Registered Users which have subscribed to these (you can unsubscribe at any time);

    send you communications to you by email or similar technology relating to our activities which we think may be of interest (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require such communications);

    deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the Website;

    keep the Website secure and prevent fraud; and

    verify compliance with the terms and conditions governing the use of the Website.

    ITC may use the Personal Data of Visitors who have subscribed to email newsletters and have provided their email address for this purpose to ITC in order to send these newsletters.

    5 Confidentiality and security of Personal Data

    ITC will process your Personal Data with due regard to its confidentiality.

    ITC will process Personal Data with transparency to you, as appropriate and whenever possible.

    ITC will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your Personal Data.

    All Personal data that you provide is subject to encryption both at rest and during transit. Access to the servers is restricted exclusively to authenticated users, and we implement role-based authorization mechanisms to control and manage user privileges.

    You acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and ITC cannot guarantee the security of data, including your Personal Data, sent over the internet.

    You are responsible for keeping confidential the password you use for accessing our Website; we will not ask you for your password via e-mail, SMS, phone or other channels except when you log in through the Website.

    Personal Data that ITC collects may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which ITC undertakes its activities, in order to enable ITC to use the Personal Data in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

    6 Who we disclose your Personal Data to

    In carrying out our mandated activities, ITC may disclose your Personal Data to any ITC officials or third parties, including professional advisers, consultants, suppliers, subcontractors and auditors, insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, provided that, under the circumstances, ITC is satisfied that the third party affords appropriate protection for the data concerned.

    ITC may disclose your Personal Data:

    to the extent that ITC is required to do so by applicable laws;

    in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; or

    in order to establish, exercise or defend ITC’s legal rights.

    ITC may disclose your Personal Data to any other agency of the United Nations, other international organizations, or public and private sector entities insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. Any compliance with national data protection legislation, or cooperation with national or regional data protection authorities, is always without prejudice to ITC’s privileges and immunities under domestic and international law. You acknowledge that ITC cannot be compelled to disclose any information acquired while carrying out its work.

    7 Third-party websites

    ITC’s Website may include links and references to third-party websites. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you, including your Personal Data.

    ITC has no control over, and is not responsible for, these third-party websites or how they process data, and ITC is not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of any third party. ITC provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of a link or reference does not imply the endorsement of the Linked Website by ITC. When you leave the Website, ITC encourages you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

    ITC does not share any personal data that you provide during the registration process with third party websites. This includes data about you transmitted through the system, e.g. IP details, and data that you provide when completing your user profile.

    8 Retention, destruction and archiving of Personal Data

    Personal Data that ITC processes, for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, shall not be retained for longer than is necessary.

    Registered users can request access, verification, rectification and/or deletion of their Personal Data via our contact details below (Section 11), insofar as the specified purpose for which the Personal Data is processed is not frustrated.

    ITC will delete Personal Data when:

    they are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise further processed; and/or

    you either withdraw your consent for processing, or object to the processing or request deletion of your Personal Data, via our contact details below (Section 11).

    ITC reserves the right to retain in a deidentified form any analytical or reporting data that it has derived through the processing of your Personal Data.

    Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, destruction of records containing your Personal Data may be suspended, and documents retained (including electronic documents), if any of the following apply:

    there is a legitimate reason for archiving them, including, for instance, but not limited to, when Personal Data may be necessary for auditing or for statistical, scientific or historical purposes;

    to the extent that we are required to do so by applicable law or by internal regulations or policies that govern ITC;

    if ITC believes that the documents containing your Personal Data may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; or

    in order to establish, exercise or defend ITC’s legal rights.

    9 ITC legal status and privileges and immunities

    ITC enjoys privileges and immunities accorded by the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 13th February 1946 (hereinafter the “Privileges and Immunities”).

    Nothing contained in or relating to this Privacy Policy shall constitute or be construed as a limitation upon or a waiver, express or implied, of the Privileges and Immunities of the ITC.

    10 Amendments

    We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time by publishing a new version on the Website. ITC thus encourages you to visit this section of the Website regularly in order to keep up to date with any changes. Changes to the Privacy Policy will apply from the date they are posted on the Website and shall not apply retroactively.

    Registered Users will receive an email offering them to opt out, and if they opt out, their account will be deleted in the case of free services, or unsubscribed prior to the next renewal for paid memberships.

    11 Contact details

    You can contact ITC to verify or rectify your Personal Data using the ITC Website contact form here or by post to:

    International Trade Centre

    Palais des Nations

    CH-1211 Geneva 10

    Switzerland

    12 Version details

    This policy was last updated 01 November 2023 and supersedes all previous versions.