VIR20-15

Sessions and Objectives

7 September: Presentation by the WTO (2 hours) on rules and procedures for Article XXVIII renegotiations, with a focus on the case of customs union and ECOWAS. This session was followed by a Q&A session.

Date: 07/09/2020 Duration: 2 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Improve participants' understanding of the main rules and procedures relating to tariff bindings and renegotiations of concessions pursuant to GATT Article XXVIII, specifically in the case of customs unions.

Category: Improve knowledge of WTO Agreements or particular area of Agreements, of WTO negotiations, of WTO Committees or WTO subjects

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participants opinion

    Evidence: According to the participants' evaluation, 85% of the participants valued this training as successful or very successful

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: Participants raised a number of questions during the first session which provided an opportunity to follow up and discuss in more details some of the issues covered during the second session.

Conclusion: Objective of session 1 were fully met

Results: Fully

8 September: Presentation by the WTO Secretariat (1h30) on some issues identified as priorities by participants during the first session, with practical example and analysis of real data. The session was followed by a short presentation by ECOWAS (15 minutes) on current status regarding ECOWAS engagement in such renegotiations.

Date: 08/09/2020 Duration: 2 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Review priority issues identified by participants during the first session. Share information and experience and identify needs and next steps to be taken by ECOWAS Members states in the context of Article XXVIII renegotiations.

Category: Enhance the capacity of government officials to operationalize and correctly implement provisions of one or several WTO Agreements

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participants opinion

    Evidence: According to the participants' evaluation, 90% of participants found that this training contributed significantly to their understanding of the renegotiation process and 97% of them considered that it would allow them assist their governments in such renegotiations.

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: Participants raised questions and participated actively in the session.

Conclusion: Objective of session 2 was fully met

Results: Fully