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PRESS/TPRB/215
18 June 2003
(03-3223)
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: MOROCCO
Further trade reforms would improve economic efficiency
A relatively diversified economy and sound macroeconomic policy have helped Morocco to contain
the negative effects of recurrent droughts and have contributed to the stabilization of its currency,
according to a report on the trade policies and practices of Morocco released June 18 by the WTOSecretariat.
The report notes that by expanding its multilateral commitments in the services sector, which
account for 60 percent of real GDP, Morocco would reinforce the predictability of its trade regime,
make its economy more attractive for foreign capital, and consolidate reforms in areas such as
tourism and others in which the country has comparative advantages.
The report also says that liberalization of the agricultural sector and simplification of customs
tariffs would improve economic efficiency and enhance Morocco’s adherence to the principles ofthe WTO. Such reforms could include the abolition of variable duties and the reduction of the
number and levels of tariff rates. This would so mewhat simplify Morocco’s trade regime, further
complicated by membership of seve ral overlapping trade agreements.
The WTO report, along with the policy statement by the Government of Morocco, will serve as a
basis for the third Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Morocco by the Trade Policy Review Body of theWTO on 16 and 18 June 2003.
The following documents are available in MS Word format on the WTO web-site. They can be
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp215e.htm
• Secretariat report
> Contents and summary observations> Economic environment
> Trade policy regime: framework and objectives
> Trade policies and practices by measure> Trade policies by sector
> Appendix tablesPRESS/TPRB/215
Page 2 of 2
• Government report
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks
• Minutes of the meeting (available approximately six weeks after the meeting).
Note
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member
countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant
developments that may have an impact on the gl obal trading system are also monitored. For each
review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documentsare then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are publishe d shortly afterwards.
Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly
Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States
Next reviews:
Indonesia : 27, 30 June 2003
Senegal/Niger  : 28, 30 July 2003
Honduras : 22, 24 September 2003
For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tpr_e.htm#reviewsor follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews
END