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1500 GENEVA TIME ( 1300 GMT ) 13 OCTOBER 2004  
 
PRESS/TPRB/237 
13 October 2004 
 
(04-4283) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: NORWAY 
A very open trade regime for industrial goods but mostly 
protected for agriculture 
Norway’s trade policy regime remains generally op en with the principal exception of agriculture 
where high tariffs contrast with an almost duty free regime for industrial goods, according to a 
report on the trade policies and practices of Norway released on October 13 by the WTO 
Secretariat. 
 The report says that continued structural reforms, including privatization, and further tariff 
reductions in agriculture would contribute to better resource allocation in the Norwegian economy. 
Also, improvements of Norway’s multilateral commitments, both on goods and services, would increase the predictability of the trade regime. 
 
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Norway , will be the basis for 
the fourth Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Norway by  the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 11 
and 13 October 2004. 
 The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp231.htm  
 • Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  > Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  > Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
 
 PRESS/TPRB/237 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 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 global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are 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 published 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: 
European Union : 25 and 27 October 2004 
Jamaica : 8 and 10 November 2004  
Brazil : 29 November and 1 December 2004 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END