JITAP Uganda

Counterpart Organisations

Focal Point

Activities in Uganda under JITAP commenced in 1998. A critical mass of national trainers in general and specific MTS topics now exists in the country. This has significantly contributed to enhancing negotiating skills of the Ugandan delegation to the WTO, articulation of the country’s position at the Doha Ministerial, and in the drafting the Ugandan WTO Implementation Bill 2000. Work undertaken for developing sector strategies has built strong public private sector partnerships.

1/ MTS Institutional support, Compliance, Policies, and negotiations: The programme has created considerable national awareness on WTO and MTS issues and has drawn Government’s attention to the key role of international trade in the national economy. It has triggered the formulation of a national Trade Policy in Uganda. The NSC has 14 members and was very active for the fist three years of the programme. The Inter-Institutional Committee, known as IITC in Uganda, has become the main pillar of institutional support on MTS matters.

2/ Strengthening MTS Reference Centres, and NEPs on TBT and SPS: The creation of three Reference Centres (RC) for use by trade officials, the business community, and the academia, is an important achievement of the programme.

The efforts of exporting enterprises have been underpinned by the assistance offered by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), which is also the National Enquiry Point (NEP). JITAP extended specialised technical assistance to enhance the management skills at UNBS and provided equipment and documentation to it.

3/ Enhancing MTS Knowledge and Networks: Uganda has a core group of 103 persons trained in MTS. The country benefited from participation in nine specialized sub-regional workshops and the Geneva Training course, all organized by JITAP, to improve the knowledge of participants on MTS issues, share experiences, and to enhance its participation in the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations. There is now a much greater awareness of the legal implications of the WTO Agreements and the Ugandan parliamentarians are well sensitised to the underlying issues.

4/ Product and Services Sector Strategies: Sector strategies were developed for two sectors under JITAP: Spices and Horticultural using the seven step methodology of ITC based on a “bottom up” approach with guidance from a “Coach”.