Rapid Response Facility
The Rapid Response Facility (RFF) will provide a more flexible demand-driven mechanism capable of mobilising specialised trade-related technical assistance for ACP beneficiaries. Activities under the RRF will focus on technical and legal assistance (e.g. analysing impact of trade agreements, legal expertise on trade disputes, ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) etc.); training and capacity building (trade policy formulation, negotiation skills, formulation of trade capacity building programmes, implementation of trade agreements especially EPAs, etc.) as well as logistic support to facilitate the participation of ACP beneficiaries in trade negotiations and preparatory meetings (EPA and WTO Negotiations, etc.). Likely focal areas of support include studies, workshops and trainings on issues such as trade facilitation, trade in services, intellectual property rights, rules of origin, technical barrier to trade (TBT) and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures (SPS).
The Rapid Response Facility (RFF) is fully operational since end-May 2018. Like the PE2, activities under the RRF focus on the following five clusters:
i. Trade policy and regulation,
ii. EPAs, Regional and WTO trade agendas,
iii. Customs matters,
iv. Market access and standards,
v. Competitiveness and investment.
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