Crucial trade remedy training bolsters Uzbekistan’s preparation for WTO
30.04.2025 53
Important technical skills to administer trade remedies are being developed in Uzbekistan to prepare the country for its membership of the World Trade Organization.
When countries join the WTO, they are permitted to impose trade defence measures against imports to protect their domestic industries from unfair trade practice such as dumping and subsidies, or to cope with sudden import surges.
The WTO has a comprehensive set of rules in place to guide members when they seek to impose anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures.
As part of Uzbekistan’s journey towards WTO membership, the ITC is assisting the country to set up a trade remedy regime. This involves developing a relevant body of trade remedies legislation and establishing a trade remedies unit. A central element of the work is building the requisite technical skills to administer the rules.
An intensive week-long technical workshop was therefore held from 7 to 11 April 2025 in Tashkent for the technicians who will administer trade remedies once Uzbekistan joins the WTO, as well as researchers, and professors and students of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy. The WTO’s Chairs Programme supported the training by deploying a technical expert from the WTO Rules Division to present part of the training.
Update on trade remedy legislation
On the first day, participants were walked through the procedural aspects of applying trade remedy measures and were given an overview of the institutional trade remedy structures of WTO Members such as Brazil, Canada, the EU and the US.
They learned about the initiation and duration of investigations and how confidential information is treated.
Then the participants took a deep dive into the intricacies of trade defence remedies.
Normal value and dumping margins
The second day was dedicated to anti-dumping. Participants learned how to establish ‘normal value’, how to collect information on export prices, and how to calculate the dumping margin when investigating such a complaint.
The third day introduced the countervailing measures that can be applied to imports that unfairly benefit from actionable subsidies.
Day four treated injury in dumping and injury factors, such as price and volume effects.
The last day was dedicated to safeguard measures and the circumstances under which these measures can be applied.
Practical exercises and real-life simulations were used throughout the training to amplify the theoretical work.
A total of 42 people benefited from the training, which was funded by the European Union under the project Facilitating the process of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO. Twenty-four participants also wrote an exam and obtained certificates testifying to their successful completion of the course.
7 April 2025, Tashkent, Uzbekistan – Adkham Akbarov, the National Project Coordinator for the ITC in Tashkent, opened the training and provided an overview of the course.
Photo by ITC