The Advanced Trade Policy Course (ATPC), held in Spanish, was organized by the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) and held in Geneva, at the WTO Headquarters. The diploma ceremony was held with the presence of the Patron, Ambassador Fernando de Mateo y Venturini, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the WTO, and WTO Deputy Director-General Alejandro Jara.

Mr Alejandro Jara thanked Ambassador de Mateo y Venturini for his participation and commitment throughout the course.  He congratulated the participants on successfully completing the training programme and, in his final speech, stressed the importance of having a transparent and predictable trading environment, through the use of tools such as WTO notifications, the Trade Policy Review Mechanism and the Trade Monitoring Exercise.

In his address to the participants, Ambassador Fernando de Mateo y Venturini also congratulated the participants and made reference to the meeting of the General Council which took place the day before as well as to the process and discussions leading to the 8th session of the Ministerial Conference taking place in Geneva in mid-December.

On behalf of the participants of the ATPC, Mr Andrés Efrén MONTALVO SOSA from Ecuador thanked Ambassador de Mateo y Venturini for providing advice and recommendations to the group and for sharing his wide experience with them.  He also thanked the WTO for the valuable contribution that the training course had made in enhancing their trade knowledge and went on with a vivid description of the main conclusions of the reports participants had presented during this course.  He concluded by wishing that in the future the development dimension continues to be at the heart of the debates in the WTO.

The ATPC is a “level 3” training activity implemented within the WTO progressive learning framework and, as such, it represents the highest level of learning among WTO training activities. Due to its advanced nature, the course is targeted at participants who already possess a sound knowledge of the general features of the WTO system and the WTO Agreements. The learning approach of the course is multidisciplinary in that it considers both legal and economic aspects of WTO rules and disciplines. The course’s training methodology is conceived to encourage the active involvement of participants through a series of interactive modules comprising lectures, exercises and simulations, covering most of the areas of work of the WTO. More specifically, participants are given regular coursework and individual/groups assignments and are expected to complete a project relating to their country’s trade policy by the end of their three-month stay. The course also includes visits to other international organizations active in trade-related matters as well as attendance at selected meetings of WTO bodies and briefings on WTO work-in-progress. Contacts with WTO Secretariat officials and delegates and representatives from Missions and other international organizations are also a common feature. The course seeks to promote critical thinking about trade policy formulation by consolidating participants’ understanding of the linkages between WTO rules and disciplines and their respective country’s interests in the multilateral trading system.

The 2011 programme of training activities carried out by the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation at WTO Headquarters comprised two three-month Advanced Trade Policy Courses, of which the first one was held during the first semester for English speaking Member countries, several advanced thematic courses covering areas such as intellectual property, TBT, SPS and dispute settlement and one Introduction Course on the WTO for least developed countries.  Along with these training activities in Geneva, the ITTC also organizes regional and national technical assistance activities in other parts of the world, including regional trade policy courses in cooperation with local and regional partner institutions.

  

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