Advisory Center on WTO Law
The Advisory Center on WTO Law (ACWL) is an intergovernmental international organization, which was established to provide legal support under the WTO law for developing and least developed countries, and economies in transition.
Executive Director – Mr. N.Meagher of Ireland.
Members of the Advisory Center are 11 developed countries, namely Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Great Britain. The organization also includes 37 developing countries, among which are Kazakhstan, India, Egypt, Venezuela, Pakistan, Turkey, Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua. Legal assistance is also provided to 44 least developed countries.
The Executive Secretariat of the Advisory Center, which directly provides legal assistance, consists of experts in the area of international trade law and the WTO law, usually with the experience of work in the WTO Secretariat.
Advisory Center and Belarus.
On 27 – 28 November 2019, a national seminar on dispute resolution mechanisms of the WTO took pace in Minsk on the margins of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. The Advisory Center was among co-organizers of the event, and the Deputy Executive Director of the Center Ms. S.Valle made a presentation in which she presented main directions of the Center's activities and its role in assisting states in resolving disputes within the WTO.
The seminar was attended by representatives of the republican government bodies, judicial authorities, academia, as well as law firms. During the seminar, participants considered in detail issues on the functioning of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, procedural rights and obligations of the plaintiff, on defendant and the third party. Special segment was devoted to the experience of organizing national systems for participation in WTO disputes.
The event contributed to the capacity building and expertise on the WTO law in the Republic of Belarus in the context of its accession to the World Trade Organization.
On 11 December 2019, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Mr.Oleg Kravchenko paid a visit to Geneva and met with the Executive Director of the Advisory Center Mr.Niall Meagher. During the meeting, participants discussed the development of bilateral cooperation and the perspective for Belarus' membership in the Center.
