Compliance support infrastructure and services - ITC

ITC builds sustainable national and regional capacity in the area of standards and quality management with demonstrable positive impact on the participation of SMEs in international trade.

Policymakers

The organization helps policymakers and regulators apply good regulatory practices to develop and implement a sound and enabling technical regulatory framework in a regionally and internationally harmonized manner to improve market access. ITC advises policymakers on how to conduct a diagnosis of a country or region’s quality infrastructure, contributing to the formulation of national export strategies, and the preparation of a roadmap for improvement to address NTMs in the areas of technical barriers to trade (TBT) and sanitary and  phytosanitary (SPS) measures. It builds capacities in relevant national institutions to make use of the WTO agreements on TBT and SPS to better connect with markets. ITC helps to demonstrate equivalence in conformity assessment and to negotiate mutual recognition agreements in order to reduce multiple testing and inspection.

Trade and Investment Support Institutions

ITC helps to build the capacities and competence of quality-related TISIs. In countries preparing to accede to WTO, or those who have newly acceded, ITC helps operationalize national enquiry points for information retrieval/dissemination. The organization helps national standards bodies develop national standards for specific priority products under national export and trade development strategies, according to Annex 3 of the WTO Agreement on TBT. It builds capacity and competence of conformity assessment bodies (such as certification bodies, testing laboratories, inspection bodies, and competent authorities) for their international recognition to facilitate the acceptance of priority products in international trade. It helps to coordinate and streamline functions across various TBT and SPS institutions for effective delivery of support services through the development of interactive networks, as well as between national standards bodies and trade promotion bodies to implement joint national/sectoral standards and quality improvement action plans to support SMEs.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The organization helps SMEs understand the technical requirements (standards, technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary measures) applicable in specific markets. It provides hands- on assistance to implement good agricultural practices, good manufacturing practices, hazard analysis and critical control points, and quality management systems (ISO 9001: Quality Management Systems, ISO 14001: Environmental Management Systems, ISO 22000: Food Safety Management), readying SMEs for certification. This practical assistance is provided through a pool of ITC-trained and certified local trainers and advisers through a train-the-trainer approach. The local trainers are deployed beyond the programmes, in other national, regional and international programmes that follow.