WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
1 November 2004 
 (04-4642) 
Trade Policy Review Body 
28 and 30 September 2004 Original:  English/ 
                 anglais/                  inglés 
  
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
RWANDA 
Minutes of Meeting
 
Addendum  
Chairperson:  H.E. Mrs. Puangrat Asavapisit (Thailand) 
 This document contains the advance writte n questions, and replies provided by Rwanda.1 
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales 
28 et 30 septembre 2004  
EXAMEN DES POLITIQUES COMMERCIALES 
RWANDA 
Compte rendu de la réunion
 
Addendum  
Présidente:  S.E.  Mme Puangrat Asavapisit (Thailand)  
 Le présent document contient les questions écrites communiquées à l'avance et les réponses 
fournies par le Rwanda.1 
__________________________________________________________________________________  
Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales 
28 y 30 de septiembre de 2004 
 
EXAMEN DE LAS POLÍTICAS COMERCIALES 
RWANDA 
Acta de la reunión
 
Addendum  
Presidente:  Excma. Sra Puangrat Asavapisit (Thailand) 
 En el presente documento figuran las pre guntas presentadas anticipadamente por escrito, 
junto con las respuestas facilitadas por Rwanda.1 
 
                                                      
1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente. WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
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WRITTEN RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS RAISED 
I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 
1. Rwanda Vision 2020, PRSP Integrated Framework 
 
The Rwanda vision 2020 has the following pillars: reconstruction of the nation; an efficient, 
uniting and mobilising state; human resource development; land use management and basic 
infrastructure; development of entrepreneurship  and the private sector and modernisation of 
agriculture and livestock keeping. While the pillars  of the PRSP ranked by importance are: rural 
development and agricultural transformation, human  resource development, economic infrastructure, 
governance, private sector development, institutional  capacity building. The aim of the integrated 
framework is to integrate trade into the PRSP by implementing needs identified in the DTIS. 
  The three have the same objective of devel oping the country through poverty reduction. The 
Vision 2020 is a long-term objective that Rwanda inte nds to achieve by 2020. The PRSP is one of the 
strategies to achieve the above named objective, specifically in the economic sector. On the other 
hand, the IF specifically aims at integrating trade into the PRSP. 
  Rwanda's internal trade policy aims at making product available in the market by improving 
the production capacity. Government is preparing sect oral strategies related to the promotion of 
internal and external trade, investment, touris m and cooperatives. They will be soon submitted to 
cabinet for approval. 
 
2. Memberships of Rwanda in several regional organizations (COMESA, EAC, SADC) 
 
a) Rwanda is currently a member of COMESA and has applied to join the SADC and EAC. 
Rwanda recognises the need to harmonise the different  groupings and obligations  therein. We believe 
it is possible to harmonize all these groupings in  Africa because most SADC and EAC members are 
also COMESA members. An African union Custom s committee has been established to look into, 
inter alia, the challenges brought about by multiple me mberships. This committee will exploit the 
possibility of forming an African customs Union. Ho wever in applying to join the different groupings, 
Rwanda targets potential advantages without ignorin g the disadvantages which are minimal compared 
to the former. 
 
b) To overcome the handicap of being landlocked, Rwanda has sought to join the East African 
community so as to benefit from direct access to the sea. This will be reached by harmonizing our 
budgetary, fiscal and monetary policies along the East African ones. In addition, the EAC countries plan a number of infrastructure development initiativ es that Rwanda is associated with, namely the 
railway line Isaka, Tanzania, and the oil pipeline fr om Eldoret that if developed would be beneficial 
in the reduction of transport costs among other advantages. 
 c) The COMESA heads of States indeed agre ed that member states undertake national 
consultations and impact assessment studies on the COMESA CET. The four scenarios proposed (i) 
capital goods 0%, 5%, (ii) raw materials:0%, 5% (i ii) intermediate goods: 0%, 10% and 15% (iv) 
finished goods:20%, 25%, 30%, and 40%. In this regard, an  impact assessment is being conducted 
in Rwanda but as evidenced by the different duty bands in our current Rwanda tariff structure, the 
COMESA proposal is within our bounds.  d) COMESA is in the process of formulating the regional competition policy, Rwanda closely 
follows up on it and supports the process. WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
Page 4  3. The new law reforming the judiciary 
 
 This new law reforming the judiciary has been  enacted for the very reason of improving and 
promoting speed, fairness and transparency of comm ercial disputes, by establishing a commercial 
court. This court will be establish ed to reduce the volume of ordinary courts that currently hear 
commercial disputes, by having a specialised manda te. Fairness and transparency of the court will 
also be complemented by other judicial reforms, such as the development of a code of ethics for 
judges, which requires the judges to be of  high moral integrity and qualification. 
 
4. The establishment of the Board to advise the Government on trade 
  This board is in place and is called the Na tional Development and Trade Policy Forum 
(NDTPF). It is constituted o f bo th t he representatives o f t he public sector, the private sector, the 
civil society as well as the academia.  
5. Rwanda's priorities for filing notifications to the WTO? 
 
 Rwanda has become active in the multilateral trading system and as such is committed to filing notifications to the WTO. However we have insufficient capacity in making notifications and therefore Rwanda urges her trade and development pa rtners to assist in capaci ty building so that 
Rwanda fulfils WTO obligations.  6. Economic Partnership Agreement 
 
Rwanda h as good trade relationship with EU and EAC as both regions are the main trade 
partners. The EAC is Rwanda's main supplier a nd destination of goods and the EU comes second. 
Negotiating an EPA with the EU under the ESA co nfiguration will definitely strengthen Rwanda's 
trade relationship with both blocks. 
 
Rwanda believes in a positive role that an e quitable and rule-based multilateral trading system 
can play in promoting a global economic growth for weak economies. For Rwanda in particular, multilateral trade liberalization and FTA would help in addressing trade related shortcomings such as 
market access through the reduction of transpor tation costs. WTO provisions allow Rwanda as an 
LDC to benefit from preferential treatment. In as far as development is concerned, multilateral and 
regional integration helps Rwanda to join the effo rt with other partners in tackling development 
projects such as infrastructure, cap acity building, and others that lead to poverty reduction and the 
welfare of the population.  7. Export promotion strategy in Rwanda 
 
 Rwanda export promotion strategy aims at a ddressing the deficit in our balance of trade 
among other objectives through export diversification. Priority areas of the export strategy include 
Rwanda's traditional exports like coffee, Tourism pyr ethrum and mining. The strategy also identifies 
new export areas to expand from the non traditional exports. The major ones are horticulture and 
handicraft. 
  Constraints that hinder Rwanda exports are id entified in the strategy. These include financial 
challenges, lack of working capital, access to credit,  inadequate infrastructure, unreliable energy and 
irregular water supply, inadequate feeder roads, and lack of training. 
 
 We have also identified areas that will support the strategy: adequate financing, reforming 
and strengthening key national in stitutions, putting up infrastructure needed for export promotion, WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
Page 5 
 
 
reforming the legal framework, information on  export market opportunities and appropriate 
production and processing technology.   To implement this strategy, the Government of Rwanda has chosen export promotion as one 
of the priority areas as reflected in the budget frame work 2005-2007. However, this is not sufficient 
and as such Rwanda welcomes any assistance from partners to make this strategy a reality. 
 
8. Existence of price control system in Rwanda 
 
 Government of Rwanda did not introduce a pri ce control system. On the contrary we enforced 
law n° 15/2001 that requires that price of goods an d services be clearly displayed. This reduces 
speculations practiced by business people. It also aims at protecting consumers from these speculative 
malpractices, and fights dumping and price discriminati on. This is in conformity with international 
standards stating that the consumer has the right to be informed about prices. The copy of the law is 
available for ease of reference  9. Small businesses operating in the informal economy 
 
 Rwanda is aware that the informal sector pl ays a vital role in the economy, and that it 
constitutes the biggest sector. Many studies have b een conducted in this ar ea, but their conclusions 
are yet to be implemented. Government is prepar ing a small and medium-sized business policy that 
will seek to empower the informal sector. Rwa nda urges development partners to support 
Government of Rwanda in formulating clear SMEs policies.  
10. Investment opportuni ties in scarce resources 
  The determination of the number of invest ments opportunities is made case by case or 
rather field by field. Among the criteria used for this purpose, we can mention the efficiency criteria in terms of profitability of the companies that will invest there, the service delivery as well as the 
renewability of the scarce resource. This is be cause we believe that scarce resources must be 
exploited at a rate that enables them to be naturally renewed.  11. Meaning of "adequate" compensation in the investment code  
 The Government will compensate an investor in case of nationalization of his/her assets and 
the word "adequate" means that in this case a comm ittee will be put into pl ace to look into that 
particular case and determine the compen sation that is the most appropriate. 
 
II. TRADE POLICIES 
12. Payment of sureties and pre- shipment activities in Rwanda? 
 
 The requirement for pre-ship ment inspection has been e liminated since July 2004. 
Additionally, in the revised cust oms law currently in parliament, the determination of security for 
release of goods under dispute shall be the exact amount of the duties due in accordance with the 
requirements of the Kyoto convention.  
13. Meaning of "last substantial and economically justified transformation" concerning 
the non-preferential rules of origin? 
 
 Goods whose production involves more than one country are deemed to originate in the 
country where they underwe nt their last, substantial, economi cally justified pro cessing or working WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
Page 6  
in an undertaking equipped for that purpose and resulting in the manufacture on a new product or 
representing an important stage in manufacturing. For example, a level of transformation equivalent to 35% of value added for goods originating from  COMESA countries is acceptable for preferential 
treatment.  
14. Clarification on the 4% Magerwa handling fee 
  This is a handling fee charged on every impor tation. The Government of Rwanda does not 
consider the 4% charge on imports as a tax. Instead, Rwanda considers this charge as a service charge 
because it is charged due to handlin g services rendered to the importer. 
 
 The pre-shipment inspection has been abolishe d with effect from July 2004. The Government 
of Rwanda concluded a Pre shipment contract with  Intertek for duration of two years commencing on 
June 2002 to June 2004. All those charges have been eliminated starting July this year.   In January 2004, Rwanda started appl ying the WTO/GATT 1994 Agreement on customs 
valuation. Considering Rwanda's commitments under this agreement, the PSI contract was terminated. 
 
15. Government procurement law 
 
 The draft Government procurement law has alre ady been passed by cabinet and is now tabled 
before parliament. This means that  the law will very soon be enacted. 
 
 The preferences for small enterprises consists of reserving certain contracts exclusively for them. The type and maximum value o f these contr acts is to be determined by the National Tender 
Board. In addition to the law, a government proc urement policy is due to be implemented and will 
govern the type of contracts and value that  will be reserved for small enterprises. 
 
 Under the draft law, the contracting party may grant a margin of preferences to bids 
proposing certain local products provided that the ma rgin is clearly indicated in the tender documents. 
  The Government of Rwanda has had procurem ent law in place since 1997, however this was 
recently amended and Rwanda has started applying so me provisions of the new law in advance of its 
enactment, for making suppliers provide her with qua lity goods at competitive prices, and to increase 
transparency and to fight corruption. Rwanda is still exploring the ways of joining International 
Government procurement agreements.  
16. Sanitary and phytosanitary questionnaire 
 
 Rwanda is going to submit the completed questionnaire very soon.  
17. Intellectual property rights 
 
 According to Article 18 of the TRIPS Agreemen t, an initial registration and renewal thereof 
shall not be for a period less than seven years. Th e registration of the trademark shall be renewable 
indefinitely. Article 59 of the Rwanda draft law on industrial property provides for registration of a 
trademark for a period of 10 years and is renewable i ndefinitely. This therefore is in conformity with 
the TRIPS Agreement.  
 Article 26 of the TRIPS Agreement provides that an industrial design will be registered for at 
least 10 years. Art 55 of the Rwanda draft law on i ndustrial property provides that an industrial design 
will be registered for 5 years renewable for two c onsecutive periods of fives years each. This makes it 
15 years which is in conformity with the TRIPS agreement. WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
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 Article 25 of the TRIPS Agreement provides that  protection is granted to industrial designs 
that are novel or original. Article 42, of the Rwa nda draft law provides that; "an industrial design or 
model may be registered provided that it is novel". Therefore, there is nothing in the Rwandan law 
like "new in the world". By the term "novel" , we mean the originality of the creation. 
 
 By the term "examining the substantive issues"  regarding geographical indications w e mean 
that in the case of opposition, we are going to look into the necessary and convincing evidences that 
are provided by the opposing party.   The Rwanda draft law on Industrial Property Right provides for the additional protection for 
geographical indications for wines and spir its especially in its articles 79 and 87. 
  The new Industrial Property Legislation is to be discussed by the cabinet in the coming weeks.  
 The preparation of the laws and regulations to  govern the protection of plants and new plant 
varieties are at an advanced stage.   Cognizant of the great importance of Patent Cooperation Treaty, International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), Patent Law Treaty, in promoting IP rights, the Government of Rwanda would like to ratify these in ternational instruments but lacks the capacity to 
do so effectively. In this regard, the Governme nt of Rwanda urges the bilateral and multilateral 
partners to increase their efforts in helping Rw anda through training of its officials. Meanwhile, 
currently the Ministry of commerce is studying the instruments and preparing applications to join the 
Patent Cooperation Treaty a nd the Madrid Convention. 
 
 The new draft law complies with TRIPS provi des for the protection of the confidential 
information submitted to Government against unfair co mpetition. This is particularly provided for in 
Article 76, section 6 and Article 77, section 2.   Rwandan Customs officials are authorized to seize or prevent the importation of goods which 
infringe intellectual property rights if they are coun terfeits or if there are false declarations or on 
advice of Rwanda Bureau of Standards. 
 
III. SECTORAL POLICIES  
Transport 
 
18. Relationship/synergy between private sector transport operators and the public 
transport enterprise (ONATRACOM)  
 The relationship between the two is that  of a complimentary nature. ONATRACOM was 
established to address transport disparities betwee n the rural and urban areas. This is because 
ONATRACOM usually operates on the routes that are not attractive to the private sector, particularly 
those routes linking cities to remote areas. Theref ore, the purchase of additional buses does not affect 
competition as these buses are meant to fill the gap that  the private sector does not deem lucrative. In 
addition, transport being a public good, the Governme nt does not intend to totally leave it in the hands 
of the private sector.  WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
Page 8  Telecommunication and ICT 
 
19. The issuance of a second cellular phone license and the privatization of Rwandatel 
 
 The second cell phone license has already been issued  to Rwandatel. Rwanda tel is in the final 
stage of privatisation. Some international and lo cal companies have submitted their offers, and these 
will be evaluated in October 2004. 
  Rwanda has made no commitment in the ICT sector and related sectors because this sector has only recently been developed. However, given th at Rwanda has taken ICT as a priority in the 
Vision 2020 as evidenced by the abolition of duties levied on computers and other ICT equipments, it 
welcomes all initiatives leading to ICT. Finally Rw anda is considering making commitment in that 
sector. Indeed, Rwanda has set up a committee that is investigating areas where Rwanda should make 
offers and requests. The ones being considered ar e the financial, telecommunication and tourism 
sectors.  Energy  20. Impact of electricity crisis on producti on and trade in Rwanda and measures taken 
 
Rwanda acknowledges the fact that the power shortages have negatively affected production 
through reduction of the production hours, which, in  turn led to the reduction of goods and services 
produced. It has also had effect on trade given t hat energy is a component of the price structure, its 
scarcity leads to an increase in the prices of goods  and services produced. This deficiency was, among 
others caused by unforeseen increase in demand, which was not commensurate with the supply. 
 
In the medium-term and long term, it is planed the exploitation of methane gas in Lake Kivu. 
This gas will be converted into electricity. 
 
Short-term solutions included the use of thermal generators to supply electricity to the public 
by Electrogaz, and Government has taken measure s to facilitate the business community including 
exporters by waiving import duties and taxes on ge nerators required by busin esses. In addition, the 
energy sector has been identified as one of th e priority areas for the budget framework paper 2005-
2007. Rwanda urges WTO and all trad e partners to provide her with technical and financial assistance 
to deal with these problems.  
21. Impact of oil price increases 
  The international oil price increase has been  passed on to the consumers through increased 
national prices. This burden was, however not comme nsurate to the increase in international prices 
since Government has made the necessary interv entions in order to protect consumers from 
unaffordable increases. However, petroleum is one of the sensitive products for whose price 
determination calls for the Government intervention.  
 Government bears additional costs, thereby reducing the burden on the consumer. Petroleum 
importers are actively involved in the prici ng process through monthly joint meetings with 
Government.   The price of oil in Rwanda is not only affect ed by the international oil prices but also the 
transport costs from the ports, since Rwanda is a landlocked country. 
 WT/TPR/M/129/Add.1 
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Agriculture  
 22. Agriculture 
 
 Sectors that are deemed to be able to absorb  the labor force shifting from agriculture are:  
 a. Agro processing 
 b. The manufacturing sector that Rwanda pl ans to develop by emphasizing on the light 
industry 
 c. The sector of services such as tourism, banking, clearing and forwarding etc  d. ICT is expected to play the role of a back up sector and the government has chosen it 
as a priority area and facilities have been put in place to facilitate in any investment in 
this field. 
 e. The government also intends to promote exports through the establishment of an 
Exports Processing Zone. This will also create some jobs. 
 
 Rwanda has plans to educate or train that sh ifting labor force. This is evidenced by many 
government initiatives such as the program of training retrenched workers to en able them create jobs 
and adapt to them, the establishment of technical  schools, the facilitation in education of workers 
through the evening classes conducted by our universities.  All this helps in creating more capacity for 
the workers who will have to shift between sectors.  
 It is worth noting that in Rwanda we do no t have a specialized agriculture. We only have 
subsistence agriculture. What the Government is tryi ng to do is to have a specialized agriculture. 
 
IV. OTHERS 
23. Trade-related technical assistance and capa city building the followi ng areas need trade-
related technical assistance  
 Rwanda is endeavouring to increase the standa rds/ of the exports through empowering the 
trade-related institutions such as the Rwanda Bureau of Standard, the Department of Trade in the 
Ministry of Commerce, RIEPA.  
 Strengthening the National Development a nd Trade Policy Forum (NDTPF) whose main 
objective is to advise the Government on bilateral a nd multilateral trade-related issues is another area 
that requires technical assistance.   Proposals for this purpose have been submitted to  some of our trade partners including the 
EC. We are also preparing a blue print document that will guide our workshop that we intend to 
organize, whereby we shall meet our trade partners to find ways of addressing these issues.   
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