The Cameron May and World Trade Institute present the following distance learning programme:

Certificate of Advanced Studies
in International Trade Regulation

First programme commences 19 January 2009

Download the Brochure and Application Form here...

Cameron May, renowned publishers in the field of international economic law, and the World Trade Institute, at the University of Bern, the home of the Master in International Law and Economics (MILE) programme, have teamed up in order to provide a distance learning programme on international trade regulation, which culminates in a Certificate of Advanced Studies in International Trade Regulation awarded by the WTI/University of Bern.

The World Trade Institute

The WTI has now trained several hundred people on international trade law in various training and education programmes offered both in Switzerland and abroad. It has become increasingly apparent that there is a huge defi cit in knowledge and expertise,
particularly in developing countries, in this relatively new and certainly under-studied field. For this reason, the WTI is now offering students from all over the world the possibility to study on one of its training programmes, and receive a Certificate of Advanced Studies in International Trade Regulation from the Institute. It is hoped that this programme will make a contribution to bridging the knowledge gap and redressing some of the asymmetries between developed and developing countries in the role that they play in
the world trading system.

The Programme and Method

The Cameron May / WTI distance learning programme mixes traditional lectures and teaching methods (through a oneweek residency session) with more modern and state-of-the art pedagogical aids, such as reading materials sent to you at home, on-line exams which you can take in real time, and interaction with tutors and teachers by email and in on-line chat sessions. It seeks to break down the tyranny of distance and provide people from all over the world the same access to the world’s leading experts in the field, and the WTI’s renowned teaching materials. The programme consists of a series of seven substantive modules and one face-to-face, week-long residency session, all of which is to be completed over a period of twelve months. The programme is designed so that participants can complete the course work in their spare time, and is effectively designed for busy professionals who do not have the luxury of attending the WTI’s Master Programme or Summer Academy.

The programme will be offered twice a year at a minimum. The modules are divided into four topics, and students are expected to complete at least two topics per week, thereby finishing one module per month. At the end of a module, students sit a multiple-choice exam administered electronically (via internet or CD-Rom) and upon successfully passing this, they must then complete an essay question. When they have passed both the multiple-choice exam and the essay question, they can progress to the next module. Teaching is based on the celebrated course book, International Trade Regulation, written by Prof. Thomas Cottier and published by Cameron May and Staempfl i. Students of the programme receive a copy of the book shipped to them free of charge.

The Curriculum

Module One: Foundations, Structure & Operation of the WTO
This module focuses on the structure and operation of the WTO and is divided up into four topics: (1) From GATT 1947 to the WTO, (2) Subjects and Scope of WTO Law, (3) Structure and Instruments of the WTO, (4) Sources and Interpretation of WTO Law.

Module Two: Constitutional Principles of the WTO
In this module students are introduced to some of the main operational principles underlying WTO law: (1) The Most Favoured Nation Principle (2) National Treatment, (3) Explicit Protection of Legitimate Policy Goals, (4) Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries.

Module Three: Market Access and Trade in Goods
This module examines the rules applicable to trade in goods, particularly market access issues: (1) The Law and Policy of Tariffs and Tariff Quotas, (2) Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin, (3) Quantitative Import and Export Restrictions, (4) Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

Module Four: Contingency Protection, State Aids and Subsidies
The fourth module looks at the various trade defense instruments which governments use and how they affect the multilateral trading system: (1) Antidumping, (2) Countervailing Measures, (3) Safeguards and Special Safeguard Clauses, (4) Subsidies and State Aid.

Module Five: Trade in Agriculture
This module analyses the rules governing trade in agriculture in the WTO context: (1) Rules on Market Access, (2) Agricultural Support Measures and Export Competition, (3) Non-Trade Concerns, (4) The current Negotiations.

Module Six: Trade in Services
Module six moves away from trade in goods and into one of the ‘new areas’ of WTO law, services: (1) Introduction to International Services Trade, (2) The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), (3) Financial Services, (4) Telecommunication Services.

Module Seven: Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Finally module seven looks at the other big ‘new area’ brought into the multilateral framework in the last Round of trade negotiations, intellectual property: (1) Introduction to Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, (2) International
Legal and Institutional Architecture, (3) The TRIPS Agreement, (4) Case Study: Access to Essential Medicines Residency Session: Dispute Settlement, International Negotiations and Graduation.

Upon successful completion of the seven substantive units, students attend a one-week residency session where they attend lectures, tutorials and engage in interactive exercises and roleplays on dispute settlement and negotiations. The programme concludes with a graduation ceremony. During the residency session, students are taught by some of the leading academics and practitioners in the fi eld, as well as by the WTI’s own academic staff.

The Experts

During their learning experience, students will be in regular contact with the academic staff of the WTI, who will guide them through the programme and assist them in all matters of substance.

Students will also have regular access to one of the many experts who will be responsible for the substantive area in which he or she specialises, and the residency session will also be attended by experts from the WTI’s International Faculty.

For further information, Shamsur Rahman...