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Legal and Regulatory Framework
Assistance under this category includes helping countries to bring their own regulations into conformity with international rules, more general help to improve their legal institutions, and training officials to deal with such rules. A number of the agencies specialise in particular areas, rather than trying to provide expertise on the legal rules in all sectors. For several, the aim is to balance trade-related obligations with other national (or international) interests.
european commission
Supply Capacity
In line with the trade focus of this Guide, support activities to develop supply capacity are considered to be those that aim to increase the availability of goods and services for export. There is no easy distinction between this and building more general capacity to produce, and this distinction is becoming less pertinent as borders open and competition in local markets from imports increases. Some agencies do not make this distinction in their projects.
european commission
Compliance support infrastructure and services
Assistance in this category is closely related to that under the Legal and Regulatory Framework, but places more emphasis on building the institutions in developing countries to implement such legal frameworks, and less on the details of compliance. It is an area where the specialised agencies again have the main role
european commission
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
Trade Policy Development
Agencies’ assistance to trade policy development is generally provided in four areas: design and implementation of trade policy; specific developing country issues in trade (such as commodity exports and preferences); support in trade negotiations; and assistance in managing the interactions between trade and other policies.
european commission
Multilateral Trading System Programme (MTS)
new zealand
Support for Office of the Chief Trade Advisor (OCTA)
Support for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS)
Trade promotion capacity building
This category includes both direct support to exporters and the building of institutions in-country which will provide such support. It is different from many of the other categories in its direct relationship to the private sector.
european commission
indonesia
Quarantine Inspection for Animal products
Agriculture and Food Security
Trade and Industry
Market and Trade Information
Market information and trade information services are different in their focus and methods. Market information is about sub-sectors and products, while trade information focuses on the aggregate level, including data on trade flows, policies affecting trade, and trends in these. Market information is usually targeted at traders. Trade information is, broadly speaking, intended to be used by policy-makers.
european commission
new zealand
Trade Facilitation
This category covers the development, harmonization, and implementation of the rules and procedures which govern how goods cross borders.
european commission
E-commerce Services & Digital Economy
This category includes capacity building activities directed to development of e-commerce from the perspective of the physical and regulatory factors, for example reducing barriers to trade across distance via electronic marketplaces, development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks.
new zealand
Physical Trade Infrastructure
Like Supply Capacity, this is a category where the boundary between trade support and more general support to production or development is not clearly defined. Some agencies try to allocate spending on individual projects partially to trade and partially to other purposes; others focus on the principal purpose of a project or a type of activity.