WT/TPR/ R/11 
 
15 June 2023  
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Trade Policy Review Body   
 
SEVENTH APPRAISAL OF THE T RADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM  
REPORT ON THE FIRST DEDICATED SESSION ON THE SECRETARIAT REPORT OF 12 JUNE 2023 
Chairperson: H.E. Mr Saqer Abdullah ALMOQBEL (Kingdom of  Saudi Arabia ) 
1. The first dedicated session on the Secretariat Report ("basket 2") was  held on 12 June 2023. 
The meeting was chaired by Ambassador H.E. Mr Saqer ALMOQBEL (Kingdom of Saudi  Arabia) . 
2. The Chair began by noting that improvements to the Report are continuous. The Secretariat 
is wo rking to make the Report more concise without compromising the quality of the information 
and analysis. Another goal in shortening the Report is to reduce documentation and translation costs. 
The Chair stated that there has been some increase in report len gth due to the longer  time between 
review cycles to 3, 5, and 7 years, and also because of trade measures related to the COVID -19 
pandemic. The Chair recalled that the Secretariat has established a reflection group on the structure 
and content of the Secre tariat Report  to address Members' suggestions . 
3. To aid the discussion, the Secretariat displayed parts of para.  2.9 of the revised chair note 
relating to the Report, specifically that it should (i)  remain objective; (ii)  include more analysis 
related to trade policies; (iii)  include issues related to emerging trade policies and technical 
assistance; (iv)  be consistent in the analysis of intellectual property rights ( IPRs); and (v)  assess 
compliance with WTO notifications . 
4. In Members' view, the Report coul d be shorter and more concise, while maintaining its quality 
and usefulness. Members  highlighted that  the Report should also be more consistent across Members  
and agreed that Reports should be factual and impartial, avoiding editorializing on particular tr ade 
policies of the Member under review.  It was noted that Members would need to discuss further the 
suggestion by some Members to make the Report more analytical.  
5. Some  Members suggested that the Economic Environment section (Section  1 of the Report) 
could  be streamlined , for example by concentrating on the key changes  since the previous Review , 
making better use of charts and tables,  relying more on references to relevant reports of other 
international organizations, and eliminating the subsection on the m acroeconomic outlook . One 
Member responded that they see value in this section because it places the review in context, but 
agreed that it could be more concise. A suggestion was also made to extract the descriptive parts 
on the institutional framework in Section  2 of the Report and move them to a reference document 
or online Member profile.  
6. Technical assistance, in relation to developing countries, was noted as a topic that should be 
included in the Report. In particular, a Member suggested a description of the extent to which TA 
activities for the Member under review have been helpful and ho w TA could be improved.  
7. Members also recommended that outstanding issues from the previous Review  be included in 
the Report . This recap could aid reviewing Members in assessing the development of the Member 
under review, while simultaneously helping the Me mber under review to assess its own trade policies 
and practices.  
8. A few Members raised the issue of a common structure for the Report, and the Secretariat 
clarified that the Report already follow s a standard template comprising four sections – economic 
environment, trade and investment  policy framework , trade policies by measure , and trade policies WT/TPR/R/11  
 
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  by sector  – and their respective subsections . One Member  recommended a deeper and more 
consistent treatment of IPRs across  Members . Members ' views differed on wh ether it would be 
desirable to regroup the section s on competition policy, state -owned enterprises , and incentives into 
a single subsection.  
9. A number of Members said the Report should include an analysis of notifications that describes 
whether the Member u nder review is up -to-date with its notification obligations, and whether 
notifications are outstanding . They also recommended  that emerging trade issues such as  GVCs, 
digital trade, trade and environment, trade and gender , women economic empowerment , and MSMEs  
be included in the Report . Other Members suggested that  to start listing emerging trade issues is 
not the right approach to reach consensus among Members , preferring to leave this issue to the 
Secretariat , since the report is prepare d under its own responsibility.  
10. The sources used by the Secretariat to produce the Report were also discussed. While some 
Members recommended that the Secretariat avoid citing "non -official sources", others stated that 
the Secretariat should have discretio n to use relevant data and sources, as long as proper citations 
are included.  
11. Members noted that the Secretariat should work with the Chair to propose revised text for 
paras. 2.9 and 2.10 of the revised chair note circulated on 26  May 2023 for Members to d iscuss at 
the next meeting.  
12. The Chair closed the meeting by indicating to Members that the next meeting would take place 
on Friday, 23 June at 3 p.m. in room S3 . 
 
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