1. Introduction. Food Security and Environment Protection, Economic Cooperation and Social Development Peace and Security and Humanitarian Affairs

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1 TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY TO UNDERTAKE REGIONAL TRAINING NEEDS ASESSMENT ON REGIONAL TRADE AND INTEGRATION ISSUES AS SUPPORT TO CAPACITY BUILDING IN TRADE NEGOTIATION SKILLS. 1. Introduction The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) was created in 1986 to coordinate member states' efforts in combating drought and desertification and mitigating their consequences. In 1996, IGAD was revitalized and its mandate was expanded to: Food Security and Environment Protection, Economic Cooperation and Social Development Peace and Security and Humanitarian Affairs The Charter establishing IGAD, particularly Article 13A of the Charter, specifies the broad areas of co-operation among Member States in the above mandate areas. 2. Background Negotiations of trade agreements, their implementation and the attendant policy and structural adjustment to benefit from the agreements have become a permanent feature of the international trading system since the mid-1990s. The creation of the WTO and parallel proliferation, widening and deepening of regional trade agreements has meant that IGAD Member countries with weak institutional, human, financial and business capacities need an equally permanent and comprehensive form of aid for trade support dedicated to trade negotiations, implementation and adjustment to help them participate effectively in shaping trade negotiations and in taking advantage of the resulting agreements in a manner that can bring tangible gains in terms of trade growth and welfare improvement, including poverty reduction and achievement of national development goals as well as the Millennium Development Goals. Yet capacity building support focussed on trade negotiations, implementation and adjustment or bilateral, regional and interregional trade agreements is a relatively novel area in trade development. There are two generic processes: (i) defining and negotiating Member State s position; and (ii) following up on and implementing signed agreements. Due to shortage of budget, staff and time, and knowledge and qualifications from the IGAD Secretariat (Regional level) to Government Ministries (National level), these processes are currently not implemented as desired. Official positions are defined without proper analysis of the implications, and without participatory consultations with the main stakeholders. Negotiations are constrained by inadequate negotiation skills and lack of budget to include the required expertise in the delegations. Agreements are signed but not properly followed up in terms of tariff revisions or amendments to the national regulatory framework. The choice among different options (tariff binding or not) offered by signed agreements is often not made. And the private sector 1

2 is not properly informed about the challenges and opportunities that may emerge from the signed agreements. While the Secretariat and Member States`s capacity is being enhanced, it is still insufficient considering the immediate challenges that they face in the multilateral, regional and bilateral context. In the WTO context, the Member States need to define and negotiate their position on many issues (e.g. intellectual property rights, liberalisation of the services sector, tariff binding etc.), and also, special efforts are required to implement signed agreements where the Member States lag behind in fulfilling their obligations. In the regional context, the process of establishing a Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) between East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern African Development Coordination (SADC) will significantly increase the workload and challenges for IGAD Secretariat. The agreements like the Generalised system of Preferences (GSP) with USA and EU raise many issues and IGAD has a crucial role to play in the process of developing an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) with the EU. Partly as a consequence of limited progress in the Doha round, bilateral agreements continue to have a dominating role. India and China are emerging as IGAD Member States`s main trading partners and the IGAD States need to obtain satisfactory terms for their trade with these partners. 3. Objective of the Consultancy Enhanced Capacity for IGAD secretariat, and Improved position of International Trade Negotiations of Member States in negotiation and implementation of international trade agreements. This should entail capacity needs assessment and identification. Designing the needed training module. Conducting the training. 4. Scope of Work The consultancy will then: -Conduct a needs assessment at the IGAD Secretariat and the concerned ministries in the Member States as support to capacity building in trade negotiation skills. -Produce appropriate training material. -Conduct the training of the trade specialist in the section of trade at the Secretariat and technical staff in the concerned ministries in the Member States. -Conduct a wide literature review of the training programmes, syllabi, examination of regional trade and integration issues as support to capacity building in trade negotiation skills. -Review studies, collect information and data and compile a report on negotiation of trade agreements strategy and policy options in consultation with Ministries of Trade, Export Promotion Boards, Revenue Authorities, Private Institutions, Universities and Other relevant bodies in the IGAD Member States. -Benchmark with International training programmes and best practices in trade negotiation, draw lessons from other regional bodies on trade negotiation skills, laws and regulations and any other methods to achieve the task. 2

3 -Identify the critical concerns and issues in the context of trade negotiations which are likely to demand training, technical expertise, resources and responsibilities which are consistent and compatible with the concerns and aspirations of IGAD Member States. -Identify practical ways for creating and improving existing training proposals and materials on trade negotiations and facilitation that suits the expectations and desires of the IGAD Member States. -Present the main findings and recommendations to stakeholders of the IGAD Member States through training Workshops. 5. Expected Outputs 1:An examination of key concepts on negotiation of international trade agreements, which establish: (i) Its nature and main components; (ii) its application and use, and (iii) what the IGAD Secretariat and Member States interests, challenges and concerns are in the field of negotiating trade agreements. 2: A detailed analysis of the training programmes, syllabi, an examination of the rules and standards, as well as training materials on negotiating trade deals, in the light of how these match the needs of IGAD Secretariat and Member States. 3: A review of the existing best practices in international trade negotiations within and outside the region, in particular those which may be easily adopted as well as detailed recommendations on how to implement such practices by IGAD Secretariat and Member States. 6. Methodology and Timetable Approach and strategy of this consultancy should entail: Institutional analysis, Empirical analysis, Competitiveness assessment (Data), Desk review, Field research, Interviews with IGAD Secretariat section of trade, industry and tourism, Interviews with relevant ministries and agencies concerned with trade in the Member States. The assignment is expected to start in early September 2011 and end by December The consultancy will develop and submit a work plan and timetable at the commencement of the assignment. Once the work plan is accepted, IGAD Secretariat will help and facilitate the consultant to implement the work plan. 3

4 7. Reporting and Feedback On the commencement of the assignment, the consultancy shall present to IGAD an inception report on how it will execute the assignment based on the review of the available literature and the interpretation of the Terms of Reference. This will form the basis for the activities upon consultation with IGAD Secretariat. The consultancy is also required to develop and submit to IGAD Secretariat draft guidelines, and training Manuals for comments. Comments by IGAD Secretariat will be delivered back to the consultancy at latest one week after their submission. After reception of comments from IGAD Secretariat, the consultancy shall immediately embark on preparations for the training workshops. 8. Expertise Required It is preferable that the bidders will be consortia, joint ventures or associations, comprising: (i) institutions which may be consultancy firms and/or research centres (ii) international and regional institutions which may be consultancy firms and/or research centres; and that both groups have a demonstrated capacity and a proven track record in delivering research/advice and imparting skills on international trade negotiation issues. The lead consultants in these institutions and firms should preferably be holders of post graduate degrees (Phd, Masters in Economics, international trade, LLM and a minimum of ten years experience in regional integration issues and trade negotiation agreements at multilateral levels. 9. Other Conditions This Terms of Reference (TOR) will form an integral part of a temporary service contract to be signed between the IGAD Secretariat on one part and the consultancy on the other part. The contract, among other things, will specify fees payment modalities and measures in case of failure to submit acceptable deliverables in time. 10. Remuneration The indicative cost of this consultancy is Euro 188,800 while Euro 58,800 is budgeted for the training workshops. Interested persons should submit their curriculum vitae by August 30, 2011 to the Director of Administration and Finance, IGAD Secretariat, BP 2653 Djibouti, igad@igad.int with a copy to IGAD RISPII Coordinator: Yufnalis.okubo@igad.int Applications are open to nationals from all ACP and EU member States 4

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