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EC-ESCAP WTO technical assistance programme
Bhutan
| Project title: |
Formal title: EC-Bhutan Trade Capacity Development Project
ESCAP title: Assisting Bhutan to reform trade policies and
 accede to WTO through regional cooperation |
| Project goal: |
The Royal Government of Bhutan is enabled to develop its international trade policy framework in line with its WTO accession process and overall development objectives. |
| Implementation period: |
2006-2009 |
| Donor: |
European Commission |
| Budget: |
Euro 418,550 |
| ESCAP contribution: |
Euro 40,000 |
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Activities
- Legislative review to make Bhutan’s legal system WTO-compatible. The Royal Government of Bhutan requested to revise this activity to focus on:
- Development of a Trade Development Act for Bhutan:
A consultant, Mr. Hannes Schloemann of MSBH Rechtsanwalte / WTI-advisors, was contracted to undertake this activity. The first phase of this activity was completed and resulted in an advisory report containing draft elements of the Act. The second phase resulted in the formulation of a complete Trade Development Act. For this purpose, a stakeholder workshop was conducted in Thimphu, Bhutan from 8-12 September 2008.
- Assistance with amending import regulations and formulating export regulations:
This activity started in September 2008. Mr. Hannes Schloemann undertook this assignment in conjunction with his assignment on the Trade Development Act.
- High-Level multi-stakeholder dialogues at national, regional and international level
National level: two national awareness creating workshops were organized in Thimphu (26-27 June 2007) and Phuentsholing (29-30 June). The workshops served as policy dialogues between government, private sector and other stakeholders. The background materials were prepared by Mr. Andrew Stoler, Executive Director, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide (and former Deputy Director- General of WTO) and Mr. Aik-Hoe Lim (visiting WTO fellow at the Institute and currently WTO Counsellor on Services).
Regional level: Royal Government of Bhutan requested to delete this activity
International level: An International Policy Dialogue on Bhutan’s Accession to WTO (in preparation for the 4th Working Party meeting on Accession for Bhutan) was held in Geneva, 28-29 January 2008
In addition, the Government requested to organize attachments of selected Bhutanese officials to international organizations involved in trade, in particular the WTO and SPS/TBT Enquiry Points in selected countries. Training of one senior official in the WTO Regional Trade Policy Course in Singapore from 18 May to 7 August 2009, and training of two senior officials in Geneva on notifications and other WTO requirements from 16 to 20 November 2009 were organized in lieu of the requested attachments but produced similar outputs.
- Technical workshops
A National Multi-Stakeholder Awareness and Technical Training Workshop on Compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) for Bhutan was held in Thimphu from 22 to 25 December 2008. The 4-day workshop was attended by more than 50 participants from all over the country. The workshop was organized in cooperation with and hosted by the Bhutan Food and Agriculture Food Regulatory Authority. The workshop consisted of two parts: a general part for senior officials, and a technical training part for specialized staff. A consultant, Mr. Digby Gascoigne, was recruited to prepare the training materials and give the training at most sessions in conjunction with advisory services he rendered to the Government from 12 to 30 December 2008 on SPS issues, including the operationalization of a SPS Enquiry Point.
In addition, a training programme of two weeks at the World Trade Institute in Berne for 2 Bhutanese officials was organized from 20 April - 1 May 2009.
- WTO Awareness Creation/Establishment of WTO Reference Centres
Two national level consultants were recruited to set up and manage two WTO Reference Centres in Thimphu and Phuentsholing. Training on management of the WTO Reference Centres was conducted for two Bhutanese at ESCAP from 15 to 19 October 2007. The Royal Government of Bhutan has nominated two managers who have been accepted by ESCAP. Mr. Nedup Tshering for the WTO RC in Thimphu and Mr. Sonam Tobgay for the WTO RC in Phuentsholing. These two individuals also received similar training at ESCAP from 18 to 22 August 2008.
Also as requested by the Royal Government of Bhutan, procurement and transfer of books on trade and economics for Department of Trade and two reference centres, the production of a promotional video were fully implemented.
- Study tours
Though the project originally envisaged 3 separate study tours (one per year), the GoN requested to combine them into one integrated study tour. The study tour was conducted from 15 to 29 July 2007 by ten senior officials from Bhutan to Cambodia, Malaysia and Viet Nam with the objective for participants to learn from those countries experiences with accession/Doha negotiations and the institutional/legal/policy framework they had established for that purpose. In particular, the study tours would:
- Enhance the knowledge of the above negotiators on both the pre-accession and post accession process and as a result bring about capacity building of the team members
- Enable the negotiators to understand the implications and linkages between trade liberalization and other trade development objectives
- Further enable the Bhutanese negotiators to effectively respond to negotiating requests by the key members in a way that national sustainable development strategies can be preserved
The study tours were very successful as reported by the participants and a report was issued.
- One year Master Programme
The project included an activity to sponsor a Bhutanese official to study at the World Trade Institute in Berne for a Masters Programme in International Law and Economics. The Royal Government of Bhutan nominated Mr. Sonam Wangdi, Director of the Department of Trade, to do this Masters Programme. The grant was administered by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). The programme started in October 2008 and ended in September 2009.
- Advisory missions
The project has provisions for 3 advisory missions. Advisory services were rendered by the consultants involved in the project during their missions to Bhutan, including Mr. Andrew Stoler and Mr. Hannes Schloemann and, most recently by Mr. Digby Gascoigne (12-30 December 2008) on compliance with WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the establishment/operationalization of an SPS Enquiry Point.
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Last updated: 24 March 2011 |
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