PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL
1500 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 24 SEPTEMBER 2003
PRESS/TPRB/217
24 September 2003
(03-5036)
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: NIGER
Stabilization programme and market-oriented reforms should
start bearing fruit
Niger’s macroeconomic stabilization programme and structural reforms , in particular trade policy
changes carried out within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), should start
producing benefits in the medium term, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of
Niger released on 24 September by the WTO Secretariat.
The report notes that Niger, a vulnerable Least-Developed Country, whose economic growth
depends above all on developments in agriculture, has established, as major objectives of itseconomic policy, the stabilization of government finance and the opening up of the economy to
competition.
The report, which prioritises technical assistance and capacity building needs, calls for greater
participation of Niger and its WAEMU partners in the multilateral trading system to avoid finding
themselves on the margins of the negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda. It also says
that Niger could consider diversifying its mineral exports and finding outlets for its exports of
agricultural or livestock products, handicrafts or services.
The WTO report, along with the policy statement by the Government of Niger, will serve as a basis
for the first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Niger by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 22
and 24 September 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/tp217e.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 tables
• Government reportPRESS/TPRB/217
Page 2 of 2
• 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 underreview, 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 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 athttps://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:
Honduras : 29 September, 1 October 2003
Bulgaria : 15, 17 October 2003
Guyana : 29, 31 October 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