14 Nov 2013

Germany has donated EUR150 000 to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) for 2013.

A press release from the World Trade Organisation said this donation brought its total contributions up to EUR17 550 000 since 2000. The release said Germany’s contribution would assist developing countries in establishing and implementing sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) towards health protection and increase their ability to gain or maintain access to markets.

It furthers said the STDF also acted as a forum for WTO members to share and gather information on how they could assist the most vulnerable members in meeting their SPS-related requirements.

It also said the STDF was a joint initiative of the WTO, the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organisation and the World Organisation for Animal Health.

“I welcome Germany’s contribution which demonstrates its commitment to help developing countries benefit from the multilateral trading system and how better to integrate into the global economy”, WTO Director General, Roberto Azevedo said.

The release states that Germany’s Ambassador, Hanns Schumacher stated: “for Germany, assisting developing countries to improve their capacity to participate in international trade is a key aim which will enable them to gain and maintain market access.

It further stated that as they were going through a troubled economic time, expanding market opportunities is important as trade is a tool for growth and development. Ends