Last date : November 8, 2016

EU Call for Proposals: TradeCom II- ACP Trade Capacity Building Programme

TRADECOM II – ACP TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMME 

1.1 Background The European Union (EU)’s overall relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries are governed by the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed in 2000 and concluded for a period of 20 years. The Agreement foresees the creation of a new trading system leading to a gradual and sustainable integration and increased participation of ACP countries into the global economy. The international trade has provided the ACP countries and RECs with opportunities to improve incomes and catalyse economic and social transformation, and at the same time make significant advances in lifting huge sections of populations out of poverty. In order to fully address the challenges and exploit the opportunities arising from the evolving global economy, the ACP countries seek support for trade development at all levels through technical assistance and other aid modalities. The TradeCom II is the successor to the Trade.Com Facility and the ACP MTS programme that were implemented during the period of 2004 to 2012 and 2009 to 2014 respectively. The TradeCom II is being implemented over the period 2015-2020 by a Programme Management Unit (PMU) based in Brussels, Belgium. Its legal basis is the Financing Agreement FED/2013/24728 signed between the European Commission and the ACP Secretariat under the funds allocated from the 10th EDF intra-ACP envelope. Like the two previous programmes, the TradeCom II is focused on the multilateral trade and the regional trade issues, with a new focus on institutional trade capacity building. The TradeCom II Programme aims at contributing to sustainable economic development and poverty reduction in ACP countries through closer regional integration and increased participation in the global economy. Specifically, the Programme will: Continue strengthening the capacity of ACP countries and regions to formulate and implement suitable trade policies as well as to negotiate and implement bilateral and regional trade agreements; in particular, the regional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union; Continue supporting ACP countries in the negotiation and implementation of WTO Agreements, thus helping them fully benefit from the multilateral trading system; and Put a new emphasis on strengthening ACP private sector competitiveness by supporting trade facilitation and trade promotion. To that end, the TradeCom II Programme supports the building and strengthening of ACP trade capacity at national and regional levels through a combination of Technical Assistance (Programme Estimate Imprest Component) and capacity building actions (Grants Component). The ACP Secretariat is launching this Call for Proposals under the Grants Component of the TradeCom II Programme. The Grants Component will facilitate a close involvement of ACP trade research and training institutions in the development and delivery of trade capacity building measures, thus enhancing the sustainability of the results of TradeCom II Programme. These Guidelines will provide all required information for the applicants. 

1.2 Objectives of the programme and priority issues The global objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to closer regional integration and increased participation in the global economy of ACP countries and regions through longer-term and locally anchored institutional capacity building. The specific objective of this call for proposals is to build the capacities of ACP trade support institutions in the delivery of trade research and training actions at national and regional level, thus providing capacity to address key trade issues. 15 January 2016 Page 5 of 30 e3a_guidelines_en Purpose of the programme The purpose of the Programme through this Call for Proposals, are to: Purpose 1: Enhance the capacity of ACP countries to formulate and implement suitable trade policies; Purpose 2: Assist ACP countries to implement EPAs, regional and international trade agreements to their benefit; and Purpose 3: Strengthen ACP Private sector competitiveness by supporting trade facilitation and trade promotion. Priorities The Grant Component aims to support and enhance the sustainability of the North-South, South-South and Intra-ACP trade research and capacity building actions that are complementary to the demand-driven interventions under the Programme Estimate component. In that regard, the priorities of this Call for Proposals are to1 : 

1. Support activities and actions of the ACP trade-related capacity-building organisations for implementation of the EPAs and WTO agreements; 2. Support trade-related training and research activities in ACP countries; 3. Support trade-related programmes of ACP business associations (chambers of commerce, Farmers’ associations, confederation of industries, producers’ associations, professional associations, etc.) in the area of trade; 4. Support the networking activities of trade-related think-tanks and similar organisations. The proposed actions must respect the following elements that will be subject for evaluation in line with the relevant sections of the evaluation grid: a) Project proposals submitted by non-ACP applicants should be based on initiatives and genuine involvement of ACP partners; b) Actions proposed should avoid duplication of activities and be implemented in synergy with existing EU-funded and related donor projects; c) Particular attention should be paid to cross cutting issues contributing to the achievement of the global objective of the call for proposals, including gender and youth empowerment as well as promotion of innovation; and d) All proposed actions should propose information and communication activities for the dissemination of the results and the impact of this support. 

1.3 Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 14,400,000. The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to award all available funds. 1 As per the Financing Agreement FED/2013/024-728. 15 January 2016 Page 6 of 30 e3a_guidelines_en Size of grants Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts: minimum amount: EUR 1,000,000 maximum amount: EUR 3,000,000 Any grant requested under this call for proposals must not exceed the maximum percentage of total eligible costs of the action: Maximum percentage: 80% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.5). The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested from the Contracting Authority) must be financed from sources other than the European Union Budget or the European Development Fund2 . 

2 RULES FOR THIS CALL OF PROPOSALS These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the actions financed under this call, in conformity with the Practical Guide, which is applicable to the present call (available on the Internet at this address http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/ document.do?locale=en). 3 2.1 Eligibility criteria There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to: (1) the actors: The 'lead applicant', i.e. the entity submitting the application form (2.1.1), if any, its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its coapplicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as "applicant(s)") (2.1.1), and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s). (2.1.2); (2) the actions: Actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.4); (3) the costs: types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.5). 2 Where a grant is financed by the European Development Fund, any mention of European Union financing must be understood as referring to European Development Fund financing. 3 Note that a lead applicant (i.e. a Coordinator) whose pillars have been positively assessed by the European Commission and who is awarded a grant will not sign the standard grant contract published with these guidelines but a PA Grant Agreement based on the PAGoDA template. All references in these guidelines and other documents related to this call to the standard grant contract shall in this case be understood as referring to the relevant provisions of the PAGoDA template. 15 January 2016 Page 7 of 30 e3a_guidelines_en 

2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s) Lead applicant (1) In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must: be a legal person and be non-profit-making or be profit making in legal status but not making a profit as a result of the implementation of this specific action; be a specific type of organisation such as or similar to: Trade research institution; Trade capacity building institution; Academic institution with specific trade programmes; Export promotion agency; Private sector advocacy organization; Specialized provider of trade-related assistance from EU Member States, in partnership with ACP beneficiaries; International (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 43 of the Rules of application of the EU Financial Regulation4 , in partnership with ACP beneficiaries and be established in5 a Member State of the European Union or a Member State of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group, or any eligible country as stipulated in Annex IV of the latter ACPEU Partnership Agreement as revised by Decision No 1/2014. This obligation does not apply to international organisations and be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary; be able to demonstrate having carried out activities in the field of trade-related assistance. (2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations listed in section 

2.3.3 of the Practical Guide. In Part A, section 3 of the grant application form (‘declaration by the lead applicant’), the lead applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies) are not in any of these situations. 4 International organisations are international public-sector organisations set up by intergovernmental agreements as well as specialised agencies set up by them; the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are also recognised as international organisations. 5 To be determined on the basis of the organisation’s statutes, which should demonstrate that it has been established by an instrument governed by the national law of the country concerned and that its head office is located in an eligible country. In this respect, any legal entity whose statutes have been established in another country cannot be considered an eligible local organisation, even if the statutes are registered locally or a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ has been concluded. 15 January 2016 Page 8 of 30 e3a_guidelines_en The lead applicant must act with co-applicant(s) as specified hereafter. If awarded the grant contract, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the Coordinator in Annex E3h1 (Special Conditions). The Coordinator is the main interlocutor of the Contracting Authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co-beneficiary (if any) and coordinate the design and implementation of the action. Co-applicant(s) Lead applicants (Coordinators) who are not established in ACP countries must have at least one Coapplicant established in one of ACP countries and be active in the field covered by this call. Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant. Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself. Co-applicants must sign the mandate in Part B section 4 of the grant application form. If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the Coordinator).

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