Agency for International Trade Information and Co-operation
The Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC)
The AITIC resulted from a 2002 multilateral treaty known as the Agreement establishing the Agency for International Trade Information and Co-operation as an Intergovernmental Organisation. The AITIC was created in 2004 when the agreement entered into force. Due to the sponsoring states' dissatisfaction with the manner in which funds were being expended by the organisation, AITIC closed in early 2011.[2]
Membership
The sponsoring states of AITIC were Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Taiwan ratified the agreement in 2009 and also became a sponsor state. From 2008 to 2010, all these states except Ireland denounced the agreement and left the organisation. Prior to the denunciations, there were 61 LACs that were participating countries in the organisation.
Activities
LACs have traditionally not had active participation in the multilateral trading system and face structural and institutional constraints regarding international trade issues. Most of these countries have small missions and not enough human resources to monitor the work of the trade-related organisations in Geneva. Some of them are so poor or so small that they do not even have a permanent representation in Geneva. AITIC therefore works to improve their participation and voice in trade negotiations. Through its Non-Residents’ Unit (NRU),[3] AITIC provides those members and observers of the WTO absent from Geneva a constant flow of relevant information on trade-related developments, the Doha negotiations as well as logistical and substantive support. AITIC organises a regular AITIC Session within the WTO’s yearly Geneva Weeks.
As one size does not fit all, AITIC’s personalised approach to assist the representatives of the LACs to better understand the rules of the MTS has been its trademark. One of the best known examples of the tools AITIC has developed to assist the LAC representatives is its Glossary of Most Commonly Used International Trade Terms with Particular Reference to the WTO, which is in its second edition and has been translated into the three official languages of the WTO (
AITIC has a tradition of collaboration with other trade-related organisations, in particular WTO,
AITIC’s assistance has been acknowledged by several groups of LACs, in particular the Landlocked Developing Countries[11] and the small and vulnerable economies.[12]
Criticism and disestablishment
The Finnish government was reported as believing that it has been misled into financing the agency. It believed it was helping developing countries but, following an evaluation of AITIC's activities in February 2008, the donor countries discovered that the organisation had merely recruited rich nations as members and had predominantly spent the money on seminars and cocktail parties.[13]
Another criticism of the agency stems from the fact that according to AITIC's most recent annual report, in excess of two thirds of the donor-funded budget is allocated to staff salaries.
As of 2009, AITIC lost the bulk of its funding, retaining only three donor states, which committed only to two further years of funding. By 2011, all sponsoring states except Ireland had denounced the agreement and the organisation ceased to operate.
References
- ^ AITIC About Us
- ^ http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/c28abd2a-348c-11e0-a1a6-9d15283d53c9/Une_agence_daide_li%C3%83%C2%A9e_%C3%83%C2%A0_lOMC_ferme_ses_portes [permanent dead link]
- ^ AITIC's Non-Residents’ Unit Archived October 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ UNECE Weekly
- ^ AITIC News' Archived May 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ AITIC's Aid for Trade page Archived December 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ AITIC's Enhanced Integrated Framework Page Archived October 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ AITIC Members Archived September 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Evaluation of AITIC’s activity for the period 2004–2007[dead link]
- ^ AITIC Perception Audit Overview by Burson-Marsteller[dead link]
- ^ "Ulaanbaatar Declaration, 28-29 August 2007 (Page 5)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ^ Note on the Meeting of 3 November 2004, WTO (Page 3, paragraph 7)
- ^ YLE news report Finland Paid over a Million Euros for Cocktail Organisation
External links
- AITIC website
- Text of Agreement
- Signatures, ratifications, and denunciations of Agreement at depositary (in French)