WT/TPR/ 418 
26 June 2018 
(18-3995) Page: 1/2 
Trade Policy Review Body   
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM  
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE CHAIRPERSON OF TH E TRADE POLICY REVIE W BODY  
ISRAEL 
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 17 and 1 9 July 2018 to conduct the  fifth review of the 
trade policies and practices of Israel (WTO/AIR/ TPR/72). 
2. This commun ication 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 Member under review should do so at 
least two weeks before the review meeting to allow replies to be prepared in time for the  
first session of the meeting. For th e 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 3 July 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. Israel has agreed to use this system to provide answers to the 
questions submitted through the s ystem.  
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 three categories so 
as to facilitate responses: those related to the Secretariat r eport (with a reference to relevant 
paragraph numbers); those concerning the Government report (with a reference to relevant 
paragraph numbers); and other questions.  
5. The Secretariat shall identify the main points contained in the questions submitted at lea st 
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 gnific antly 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. Answers by the Member under review sho uld be distributed in writing; advance question s 
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 subsequently 
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 
than one month after the meeting with some latitude in the Chair's discretion for Members 
reviewing a  very large number of ques tions. WT/TPR/ 418 
 
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7. In the course of the discussions at the review meeting, the Member under review may 
indicate that it intends to provide supplementary information, in writi ng, on specific points raised. 
Upon receipt, the Secretariat will circulate a document contain ing this information to all Members.  
3  DISCUSSANT  
8. In consultation with the Member 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 Roberto Zapata Barradas (Mexico ) will act as discussant  for the review of Israel . 
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 p lace 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 Chairperson, 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 lis t will follow the order in which questions are rec eived by the Secretariat and 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 ord er in which their flags are 
raised.  On the day before each review meeting, the 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 under review and the Secretariat are contained in the following 
documents:  
WT/TPR/G/ 376  Report by Israel  
 
WT/TPR/S/ 376  Israel  Report by the Secretariat  
13. The press embargo for the review of Israel will end at 2.00 p.m. Geneva time on  
17 July 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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