WTO Agreements and Trade Policy Training Course

Participants can frame a trade policy problem using economic, legal and stakeholder evidence.

• Problem definition separating market failure, policy objective and instrument
• Theory of change linking trade measures to intended outcomes
• Partial-equilibrium analysis of price, quantity, welfare and revenue effects
• Distributional analysis identifying consumers, producers, workers and fiscal impacts
• Stakeholder mapping using influence, interest and exposure criteria
• Evidence registers distinguishing data, assumptions, legal claims and risks

Participants can analyse tariff commitments and identify market-access implications of customs duties.

• Most-favoured-nation treatment under GATT Article I applied to tariffs
• Bound rates, applied rates and tariff overhang calculations
• Harmonized System classification and tariff-line interpretation fundamentals
• Tariff escalation assessed through raw material and processed product rates
• Tariff quotas, in-quota rates and allocation methods compared
• National tariff reform options assessed against revenue and protection objectives

Participants can test internal taxes and regulations for national-treatment concerns under GATT 1994.

• GATT Article III structure for internal taxes and regulations
• Like products analysis using properties, uses and consumer preferences
• Directly competitive products and protective application indicators
• De jure and de facto discrimination distinguished systematically
• Regulatory purpose, design and operation documented through evidence
• Drafting non-discriminatory regulatory options while retaining policy objectives

Participants can assess import restrictions and licensing systems against WTO market-access rules.

• GATT Article XI prohibition covering quotas, bans and restrictions
• Import Licensing Agreement disciplines for automatic licensing procedures
• Non-automatic licensing criteria, publication and processing-time requirements
• Quota administration methods and their trade-distorting effects compared
• Foreign exchange restrictions and balance-of-payments provisions examined
• Screening domestic import controls against Article XI obligations

Participants can apply GATT exceptions analysis to measures pursuing legitimate public policy objectives.

• GATT Article XX two-tier test and burden of proof
• Necessity analysis using alternatives, contribution and trade restrictiveness
• Public morals, health and environmental exception provisions compared
• Chapeau requirements preventing arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination
• Evidence plans supporting environmental, health and consumer-protection measures
• Policy design revisions addressing less trade-restrictive alternatives

Participants can review technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures under the TBT Agreement.

• Technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures distinguished
• TBT Article 2.2 necessity test for legitimate objectives
• International standards under TBT Article 2.4 assessed
• Non-discrimination tests for imported and domestic like products
• Good Regulatory Practice principles applied to technical regulation design
• TBT notification procedures, comments and enquiry point responsibilities

Participants can assess SPS measures using scientific evidence, risk assessment and international standards.

• SPS Agreement scope covering food safety, animal and plant health
• Codex Alimentarius, WOAH and IPPC standards used appropriately
• Risk assessment components for hazards, exposure and consequences
• Appropriate level of protection and risk-management decisions distinguished
• Equivalence, regionalisation and adaptation to sanitary conditions applied
• SPS notifications, emergency measures and transparency obligations prepared

Participants can identify WTO requirements affecting customs valuation, origin determinations and border procedures.

• Transaction value method and permissible customs valuation adjustments
• Sequential valuation methods applied when transaction value fails
• Rules of origin criteria: wholly obtained, substantial transformation, value-added
• Trade Facilitation Agreement disciplines for release and clearance
• Advance rulings, authorised operators and risk management procedures
• Border process maps identifying delay, discretion and compliance risks

Participants can interpret GATS commitments and assess services measures for market-access implications.

• Four modes of supply and sector classification explained
• GATS Article II most-favoured-nation treatment and exemptions reviewed
• Market access limitations under GATS Article XVI identified
• National treatment commitments under GATS Article XVII interpreted
• Positive-list schedules, limitations and horizontal commitments read correctly
• Domestic regulation measures screened against services commitments

Participants can evaluate agricultural trade measures against market-access, domestic-support and export-competition rules.

• Agreement on Agriculture pillars and policy classification framework
• Tariffication, tariff quotas and special safeguard provisions examined
• Amber, blue and green box domestic support categories compared
• Aggregate Measurement of Support calculations and de minimis thresholds
• Export competition disciplines covering subsidies, credits and state trading
• Food security measures assessed against agriculture commitments

Participants can classify subsidies and assess countervailing-duty exposure under the SCM Agreement.

• Financial contribution, benefit and specificity tests applied sequentially
• Prohibited subsidies: export contingency and local-content requirements identified
• Actionable subsidy analysis covering adverse effects and serious prejudice
• Industrial policy instruments mapped against SCM Agreement risks
• Countervailing duty investigation stages, evidence and procedural rights
• Subsidy inventory template built from programme documentation

Participants can evaluate the legal and evidential basis for anti-dumping and safeguard action.

• Dumping margin calculation using normal value and export price
• Injury indicators covering volume, price effects and financial performance
• Causation analysis separating other known injury factors
• Anti-Dumping Agreement investigation timelines and disclosure requirements
• Safeguard measures, unforeseen developments and serious injury tests
• Public-interest considerations and importer evidence in trade-remedy cases

Participants can trace a WTO dispute and use panel reasoning to assess compliance options.

• Dispute Settlement Understanding consultations, panels and implementation stages
• Terms of reference, burden of proof and standard review
• Panel reports, adopted findings and authoritative interpretation distinguished
• Appellate Body impasse and interim appeal arbitration arrangements
• Reasonable period of time and compliance assessment procedures
• Retaliation, compensation and negotiated settlement options evaluated

Participants can prepare a notification plan and use WTO committees to raise trade concerns.

• Notification obligations mapped by agreement, measure and reporting cycle
• WTO notification formats, supporting data and quality checks
• Specific Trade Concerns raised through TBT and SPS committees
• Committee interventions structured around facts, obligations and requested action
• National notification coordination across ministries and regulatory agencies
• Transparency calendars assigning owners, evidence and approval deadlines

Participants can prepare a WTO negotiating position with clear objectives, trade-offs and coalition options.

• Interest-based negotiation separating positions, interests and acceptable outcomes
• BATNA analysis for multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations
• Negotiating mandates, red lines and fallback positions drafted
• Reciprocity, issue linkage and package deals assessed strategically
• Coalition mapping among developed, developing and least-developed members
• Consultation plans integrating business, civil society and technical agencies

Participants can compare regional trade agreement commitments with multilateral WTO obligations.

• GATT Article XXIV requirements for customs unions and free-trade areas
• GATS Article V conditions for economic integration agreements
• Rules of origin under preferential trade agreements compared
• Preference utilisation analysis using tariffs, origin and administrative costs
• WTO-plus and WTO-extra provisions identified in regional agreements
• National treaty implementation mapped against existing WTO commitments

Participants can establish a practical process for coordinated WTO-consistent trade policy development.

• Inter-ministerial governance models for trade policy decisions compared
• Regulatory impact assessment integrating trade, fiscal and competition effects
• WTO consistency screening embedded within policy development stages
• Consultation protocols for firms, consumers and affected agencies
• Cabinet submission structures presenting options, risks and recommendations
• Implementation monitoring indicators tracking compliance and market outcomes

Participants can build, review and present a complete WTO trade policy assessment for a proposed or existing measure.

• Select a defined measure, objective, affected products and stakeholders
• Frame legal questions using applicable agreements and commitments
• Analyse tariff, regulatory, services or subsidy effects with evidence
• Test WTO consistency through structured obligations and exceptions analysis
• Develop policy options, implementation steps and consultation requirements
• Peer-review legal reasoning, evidence quality and recommendation feasibility
• Present a decision-ready assessment to a simulated ministerial panel