The Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) is an international organisation established in 2001 to provide legal advice on WTO law, support in WTO dispute settlement proceedings and training in WTO law to least developed countries, developing countries and customs territories, and countries with economies in transition. For the political science journal, see: International Organization An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ... For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ...  Least Developed Countries Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are countries which according to the United Nations exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development, with the lowest Human Development Index ratings of all countries in the world. ... A developing country is a country with low average income compared to the world average. ... Economies in Transition, used to describe countries of the former Soviet bloc which are transitioning to a market economy . ...

The Centre, which is based in Geneva, has 37 Members: 10 developed country Members, and 27 Members entitled to the services of the ACWL (i.e. developing countries or developing customs territories or economies in transition as listed in Annex II to the Agreement Establishing the Centre). Least developed countries are entitled to the services of the ACWL without having to become Members thereof. Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German: //, Italian: Ginevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ...

Institutional Structure

The General Assembly, the Management Board and the Executive Director.

The General Assembly is made up of the ACWL Members and monitors the financial administration of the Centre, adopts its annual budget, and oversees its functioning.

The Management Board is composed of six people who act in their personal capacities: three are nominated by the developing and economy in transition Members, two by developed country ACWL Members, and one by the least developed countries. The Board takes the decisions for the efficient and effective operation of the Centre and reports to the General Assembly.

The Executive Director represents the Centre externally, appoints staff and manages the day-to-day operations of the ACWL. He/she is also ex officio a member of the Management Board.

Links

• Official website [1]

• Kim Van der Borght (1999), "The advisory center on the WTO law: advancing fairness and equality", Journal of International Economic Law, 2 (4), 723-728. [2]

• Fabio Spadi (2001), "Il centro consultivo sul diritto dell'Organizzazione mondiale del commercio", Diritto del commercio internazionale 15 (3), 767-775. [3](in Italian)