Elements of International Trade and Trade Policy
LDCs in general and low-income sub-Saharan African countries in particular have not been able to benefit from the growth of international trade and globalisation during the last decades. While most other developing countries have been growing and reducing poverty, the LDCs and the sub-Saharan African low-income countries have been left outside this process. One explanation for the poor results among these countries is an overall lack of knowledge of the functioning of the international trade system and the possibilities for LDCs to improve trading conditions through the development of proper trade policies and to negotiate better conditions for themselves in the multilateral and regional trade agreements.
The Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa (TRAPCA) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) developed this course with the purpose to broaden and deepen the understanding of the importance of trade and trade policy for development among media professionals and other officials and professionals concerned with trade issues both in developing and developed countries.
At the end of the course, the participants should be able to:
- Identify and understand basic determinants of trade and trade policy.
- Analyse the economic implications for developing countries of different forms of trade regulation.
- Understand and interpret the legal framework that regulates international trade.
This course consisits of the following modules:
Week 1: MODULE 1
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
Lesson 1: Introduction to International trade, development and trade policies
Lesson 2: Globalisation trends and patterns and the LDCs
Lesson 3: Trade policy instruments and the economics of trade policy
Lesson 4: External trade policy patterns and trends affecting LDCs (including tariff peaks, tariff escalation and preference erosion
Lesson 5: Trade facilitation in LDCs
Week 2: Module 1
TRADE ANDDEVELOPMENT
Lesson 6: Agriculture, trade and development
Lesson 7: Intellectual property, trade and development
Lesson 8: Services, trade and development
Lesson 9: Industry, trade and development
Week 3: Module 2
INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
Lesson 11: History of the global regulation of trade in goods - from GATT to the WTO
Lesson 12: The WTO: origins, purposes, organic structure and the role of the WTO in development
Lesson 13: Legal principles for international trade in goods (MFN, National Treatment)
Lesson 14: Exceptions to the principles (RTAs, permissible quotas, etc.)
Lesson 15: Tariffs vs. QRs, noting special arrangements for agriculture and differential treatment for DCs
Lesson 16: Additional/sectoral agreements or annexes on trade in goods, i.e. agreements on safeguards, subsidies and countervailing measures (SCM), sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT), antidumping measures (AD); noting special arrangements for agriculture, textiles and clothing and special and differential treatment for DCs
Week 4: Module 2
INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
Lesson 17: The Global Trading System and Intellectual Property
Lesson 18: Relationships: Global, regional, bilateral and national trading regimes
Lesson 19: The global trading system and investments
Lesson 20:The global trading system and trade in services
Lesson 21: Settlement of trade disputes
In order to ensure the best possible outreach, the course will be delivered through e-learning. Through a multiple-instructional setting, the goal is to achieve the learning objectives by means of learning technologies that match personal learning styles and by the inclusion of non-linear learning that aims at the development of just-in-time skills of adult learners. At the same time, in order to allow participants maximum flexibility of scheduling , the learning will be conducted in an asynchronous manner. Using a state-of-the-art training architecture, UNITAR will combine self-learning with assessments and online discussions. The pedagogy - adapted specifically to professionals in full-time work - will help train participants through various experiences: absorb (read); do (activity); interact (socialize); reflect (relate to one’s own reality).
The target audience for this course includes media professionals and other officials and professionals concerned with trade issues both in developing and developed countries.
A certificate of completion will be issued jointly by UNITAR and TRAPCA to all participants who complete the course-related assignments and assessments successfully.