Office of The Chief Counsel for
The Commercial Law Development Program

Welcome
CLDP provides consultative and training support to developing and transitional nations that are working to enhance their economic growth by improving the legal environment for doing business in their countries.

CLDP activities are designed to meet the evolving needs of developing nations. They include, among other things, major conferences that introduce large groups to new issues, highly technical skills training for small cadres of local experts and resident (or itinerant) consultants who spend significant time working in a country executing longer-term projects or consulting on issues that benefit from ongoing cooperation. CLDP activities serve as a catalyst for change, enabling leaders to take steps that, while important for the long-term economic health of their nation, may be difficult in the short term. As a U.S. federal agency, CLDP is particularly strong in providing government-to-government assistance and in helping governments and their business communities to communicate more effectively. Most CLDP activities are funded by the US Agency for International Development.

Office Description
Since its inception in 1992, CLDP has provided technical assistance to more than fifty countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. CLDP conducts between 50 and 100 discrete technical assistance activities each year, and has provided training or consultative support to nearly 10,000 people since its inception. This is in addition to the daily assistance provided by CLDP’s overseas offices and resident advisors and the information provided by the web sites and newsletters CLDP sponsors.

A significant portion of CLDP’s activities support WTO accessions and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, and implementation of WTO disciplines and FTA commitments including laws and procedures affecting intellectual property rights, customs valuation, market access, trade remedies, and product standards, among other things. In addition to its work with respect to WTO disciplines, CLDP provides technical assistance with respect to mortgage, insurance and other financial service regulatory matters, government, judicial and business ethics, public procurement, electronic commerce, anti-trust, privatization of state-owned enterprises, alternative dispute resolution, investment, judicial case management, trade policy analysis, econometric modeling, project finance, trade finance, spectrum management, public notice and comment processes and negotiation skills.

CLDP's Washington office is located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on 14th Street between Constitution Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, directly across the street from the main entrance to the Commerce Department's Herbert Hoover Building. Our offices are on the mezzanine level inside the USA Trade Center.

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