International Trade Centre

History

ITC is the successor to the International Trade Information Centre, which the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in 1964 to assist the exports of developing countries. An agreement was reached between the GATT and the newly established UNCTAD to create a joint subsidiary in 1967. The International Trade Centre (ITC) was established on 1 January 1968. The ITC has a joint mandate with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The ITC is the focal point for trade-related technical assistance.

Funding

The work of the ITC is financed by a regular budget (RB) and its extra-budgetary resources (XB). The RB is made of equal yearly contributions from the UN and WTO as part of the organizations' budget cycle. The XB is made of voluntary contributions to the ITC Trust Fund (ITF) from the private sector, international organisations, donor governments, and other kinds of groups which can last multiple years. The XB can be divided into Window I (W1) (un-earmarked or soft-earmarked contributions) and Window II (W2) (hard-earmarked contributions). For 2025, the RB consisted of US$46 million, W1 was $7.7 million, and W2 was $107.3 million, a total of $161 million.

Criticism

As a joint organization of the UN and WTO, the ITC also works to maintain and develop international trade. Criticism of the WTO's trade policies could also reflect in the ITC since their main clients are micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), business support organizations (BSOs), and the governments of developing countries. Within the Global South, these groups have often suffered due to the economic liberalization encouraged and required by international groups such as the WTO, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank Group (WBG). Since the ITC's strategic plans involve: leveraging the private sector, reaffirming a private sector focus, and access to finance, criticisms of other current international trade organizations are also relevant.

In 2026 the US announced it was withdrawing from this organization, announcing that it is "redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation's sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity".

References

References

1. ITC (2020). Retrieved 08 August 2020 from https://www.intracen.org/news/Pamela-Coke-Hamilton-named-new-head-of-International-Trade-Centre/
2. International Trade Centre Staff. (May 2018). "Annual Report 2017". International Trade Centre.
3. "International Trade Centre (ITC) {{!}} LDC Portal - International Support Measures for Least Developed Countries".
4. "ITC {{!}} The United Nations Office at Geneva".
5. GATT (1967), “Joint GATT/UNCTAD Trade Centre: Note by the Director-General”, L/2890 (6 Nov 1967), page 7
6. See General Assembly Resolution 2297, document symbol A/RES/2297(XXII).
7. (2017). "Our role in the UN and WTO9".
8. (2025). "ITC Funders & partners".
9. (2025). "ITC Operational Plan 2025".
10. (2025). "ITC Strategic Plan 2025".
11. https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-trump-international-organizations-withdrawal-d704fb9b444dc9cf569865d391b544a6