WT/TPR/ 413 
8 May  2018 
(18-2800) Page: 1/2 
Trade Policy Review Body   
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM  
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE CHAIRPERSON OF TH E TRADE POLICY REVIE W BODY  
GUINEA AND MAURITANIA  
Arrangements for Review Meeting  
1. In pursuance of Article  IV, paragraph  4 and Annex  3 of the WTO Agreement, a meeting of the 
Trade Policy Review Body is scheduled for 29 and 31 May 2018 to conduct the fourth review of the 
trade policies and practices of Guinea and the third review of the t rade policies and practices of 
Mauritania  (WTO/AIR/ TPR/67). 
2. This communication sets out arrangements  concerning the review meeting.  In this connection, 
attention is also drawn to the procedures for the conduct of reviews contained in the rules of 
procedure  of the Trade Policy Review Body (WT/TPR/6/Rev. 4). 
1  QUESTIONS IN WRITING  IN ADVANCE OF THE ME ETING AND MAIN POINT S 
3. Members wishing to submit written questions to the Membe r under review should do so at 
least two weeks before the review meeting to allow repl ies to be prepared in time for the  first 
session of the meeting. For the forthcoming review, such questions should therefore be with the 
Trade  Policies Review Division of the Secretariat (tprd@wto.org) by 5.30 p.m., 
Tuesday  15 May 2018, at the latest . Delegations are encouraged to use the TPR Q&A online 
system ( https://tprqa.wto.org ) to send their advance written questions using the username and 
password provided by the Secretariat. Guinea and Mauritania have agree d to use this system to 
provide answers to the questions submitted through the system.  
4. In line with the rules of procedure of the TPRB (WT/TPR/6/Rev.4, paragraph 17), Members 
are reminded that they should group their written questions into the following th ree categories so 
as to facilitate responses: those related to the Secretariat report (with a reference to relevant 
paragraph numbers); those concerning the Government report (with a reference to relevant 
paragraph numbers); and other questions.  
5. The Secret ariat shall identify the main points contained in the questions submitted at least 
two weeks before a review meeting, post them on the Members' Website one week before the 
meeting, and distribute a revised list of main points during the first session of a review when 
questions received after the two-week deadline give rise to si gnificantly new issues. The main 
points may be found on the Members' Websi te under "Forthcoming Meetings:  Documents for 
Meetings".  
2  ANSWERS IN WRITING B Y THE MEMBER UNDER R EVIEW  
6. Answe rs by the Member under review sho uld be distributed in writing; advance questions 
submitted by the two -week deadline before the start of the TPRB review should be answered in 
writing by the Member under revi ew by the start of the meeting.  Questions posed s ubsequently 
should be answered, to the extent possible, before the start of the second session of the meeting. 
Questions left unanswered at the end of the second session should be answered in writing no later WT/TPR/ 413 
 
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than one month after the meeting with some lati tude in the Chair's discretion for Members 
reviewing a  very large number of questions . 
7. In the course of the discussions at the review meeting, the Member under review may 
indicate that it intend s to provide supplementary information, in writi ng, on specifi c points raised. 
Upon receipt, the Secretariat will circulate a document containing this information to all Members.  
3  DISCUSSANT  
8. In consultation with the Member s under review, the Chairperson of the Trade Policy Review 
Body may choose a discussant who, in her/his personal capacity, will introduc e the discussions in 
the Body. H.E. Mr. Alberto SANZ SERRANO  will act as discussant  for the review of Guinea and 
Mauritan ia. 
4  STRUCTURE OF THE MEE TING  
9. Trade policy reviews cover four broad headings:  
a. appreciation of the full range of the Member's trade policies and practices;  
b. relevant background: wider economic and developmental needs, including the external 
environment;  
c. impact of the Member's trade policies and practices on the functioning of the multilateral 
trading syst em; and 
d. general comments by way of assessment and evaluation.  
10. Meetings take place in two sessions. The first session is devoted to the opening statements  by 
the Member under review and the discussant,  and remarks and questions from the floor. 
The discussion in the second session, when the Member under review will reply to questions, 
is based on main themes identified after the opening meeting by the Chairp erson, the discussant  
and the Secretariat in consultation with the Member.  
11. As indicated in the rules of procedure for TPRB meetings (WT/TPR/6/Rev.4, paragraph 21), 
the speakers list will follow the order in which questions are rec eived by the Secretariat a nd in the 
event of more than one batch, the final batch will determine the order of speakers.  Delegations not 
submitting written questions will continue to speak second, in the order in which their flags are 
raised.  On the day before each review meeting, t he Secretariat will post on the WTO Members' 
website a provisional list of speakers for the first session of that meeting, for Members' advance 
information . 
5  DOCUMENTATION AND PR ESS ARRANGEMENTS  
12. Reports by the Member s under review and the Secretariat are co ntained in the following 
documents:  
WT/TPR/G/ 370  Report by Guinea  
WT/TPR/G/371   Report by  Mauritania  
WT/TPR/S/ 370  Guinea : Report by the Secretariat  
WT/TPR/S/371   Mauritania: Report by the Secretariat  
13. The press embargo for the review of Guinea and Mauritania  will end at 2.00 p.m. Geneva time 
on 29 May  2018. 
6  RECORD OF THE MEETIN G 
14. The record of the meeting will be circulated as a draft to Members for comments on their own 
statements and placed on the WTO website.  
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