Thursday, November 23, 2017

A three-day introductory workshop on customs and market access issues took place from 21-23 November at the Saint Petersburg State University in the Russian Federation. The university is a member of the WTO Chair’s Programme.
The workshop focused on the WTO rules that govern the issues regularly faced by traders in their day to day activities, such as tariffs, schedules of concessions, rules of origin, and customs valuation.  The workshop also addressed some of the challenges arising from the growing importance of e-commerce and the opportunities that will be brought to the trading community by the new Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The event was attended by more than 40 masters' students from different programs of the University, including participants from the schools of economy, law, foreign relations and mathematics.   Participants were introduced to key concepts and acquired hands-on experience through specially designed exercises and cases studies in order to better understand the challenges faced by traders in these areas.
Participants expressed appreciation for the exercises and practical approach of the course. The workshop was led by Roy Santana, Senior counsellor from the Market Access Division.
The WTO Chairs Programme aims to support and promote trade-related academic activities by universities and research institutions in developing and least-developed countries. Fourteen institutions were selected as WTO Chairs for a four-year term in 2009. An additional seven institutions were selected for Phase 2 of the Programme in 2014.