Introduction
The ACWL is a Geneva-based intergovernmental organisation that was established
in 2001 to provide legal advice on WTO law, support in WTO dispute settlement
proceedings and training in WTO law to developing countries and LDCs.
The ACWL is independent of the WTO. It was created by an agreement separate
from that establishing the WTO, the Agreement Establishing the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (pdf), and has a membership different from that of the WTO. The ACWL has concluded a seat agreement with Switzerland that accords it privileges and immunities similar to those enjoyed by the WTO and other intergovernmental organisations in Geneva.
Membership in the World Trade Organization ("WTO") provides benefits and opportunities. A WTO Member can trade with others in a secure and predictable rules-based multilateral trading system. In participating in the negotiation and formulation of those rules, and in bringing its own laws into conformity with them, each WTO Member contributes to that security and predictability. Significantly, a WTO Member can enforce its rights through binding third-party adjudication under the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes ("DSU").
A WTO Member can seize these opportunities only if it understands its rights and obligations as a WTO Member, and if it understands how the WTO conducts negotiations, takes decisions and settles disputes. For countries with inadequate human and financial resources, that knowledge is very difficult to acquire. WTO law consists of a complex web of over 20 agreements, which – together with the attached Member-specific schedules of concessions and commitments – cover more than 20,000 pages. WTO law also includes the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1947 ("GATT"), all the decisions adopted by the contracting parties to the GATT, and the jurisprudence of the adjudicative bodies of the GATT and the WTO, currently contained in over 300 reports. To take full advantage of the opportunities offered by WTO law, therefore, a Member of the WTO must make a significant investment in knowledge.
The Advisory Centre on WTO Law ("ACWL") was created to alleviate the difficulties faced by developing countries and the least-developed countries ("LDCs") in acquiring this knowledge. The ACWL provides free advice on WTO law to its developing country Members and to all LDCs that are Members of the WTO or are in the process of accession. It defends these countries’ interests in WTO dispute settlement proceedings at very modest fees and offers their officials free training in WTO law through courses, seminars and internships. The ACWL has become an organisation that pools the collective experience of its developing country Members and LDCs in WTO legal matters and makes it available to each of these countries.
These legal services are only available to developing countries and LDCs.