The ACWL is happy to announce the release of its Report on Operations for 2025. The Report summarizes the ACWL’s operations during the year.
In 2025, the ACWL provided 201 legal opinions on issues of WTO law to its developing country* Members and the LDCs (compared to 228 in 2024) and has now provided over 4140 legal opinions since its inception. This year, 36 countries (including 8 LDCs), or almost a quarter of the Membership of the WTO, sought the ACWL’s advice.
These legal opinions help developing and least-developed countries to participate fully in the WTO legal system by increasing their understanding of WTO law and enabling them to defend their interests in the WTO. The ACWL’s legal advice also serves an important dispute prevention function by helping these countries to ensure the WTO-consistency of their trade-related measures.
In 2025, the ACWL’s team assisted developing countries in four ongoing disputes. In addition, the ACWL was requested to provide support in one new dispute. The ACWL has now provided assistance in 74 disputes, or in about 20 per cent of all WTO disputes since the ACWL’s inception.
The ACWL also continued its training activities. In addition to our regular training activities for Geneva-based delegates, we responded to 16 country-specific requests for training programmes on various aspects of WTO law. These were provided either in person or virtually. We expanded our training for the Francophone group, initiating an annual training course in French that sought to replicate (on a more streamlined basis) our English-language Thursday Training Course. Our Secondment Programme for Trade Lawyers has now provided training to 70 lawyers from 22 different developing countries and 15 LDCs.
Printed copies of the Report will soon be available and will be sent to ACWL Members and to the LDCs entitled to the ACWL’s services. We will also provide printed copies of the Report to other interested institutions or persons. To request a printed copy, please send an e-mail stating your name and mailing address to secretariat@acwl.ch.
If you have any questions regarding this Report or the operations of the ACWL, please do not hesitate to contact the Executive Director or any other ACWL staff member. Enquiries may also be addressed to secretariat@acwl.ch.
Report On Operations 2025 (pdf)
*Includes Separate Customs Territories
24 March 2026