Agency for International Trade Information and Co-operation

The Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC) was a Geneva-based intergovernmental organisation whose mandate was to assist the less-advantaged countries (LACs) to have a more active trade diplomacy by assisting them in better understanding the technicalities of trade rules and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. AITIC was founded to contribute to the improvement of their position in the multilateral trading system, to promote good economic governance and trade-led growth which will lead the LACs to benefit from globalisation process.

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.

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.

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), 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.

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