WT/TPR/R/ 7 
15 February 2017  
(17-0901) Page: 1/3 
Trade Policy Review Body   
 
  AMENDMENT OF THE TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM  
MINUTES  OF THE MEETING  
27 January 2017  
Chairperson: Ms. Irene Young (Hong Kong, China ) 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE CHAIRPERSON  
1. A very good morning to you all. We are coming to the end of the week but we are ge tting 
near to the lunar New Year , so ahead of tomorrow I wish you all a very happy lunar New Year of 
the rooster. And now we are starting  our formal meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body.  
2. As the convening Airgram  WTO/AIR/TPR/47  says, the objective of th is meeting is to consider 
and approve the submission of a proposal to the General Council , for a decision to be made by the 
General Council in due course , to amend the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) contained in 
Annex 3 to the Marrake sh Agreement E stablishing the WTO. This process is necessary to 
implement a change in the trade policy review cycles as agreed by the TPRB in December 2016.  
3. At our informal meeting on the 16th of January, I explained in detail the proper legal 
procedures for amending Anne x 3. In case some of you were not at that meeting, let me briefly 
recapitulate.  
4. There are two steps : 
 Step One  is for me, as Chair, to invite the TPRB to submit the amendment proposal to the 
General Council. Step One  is just a procedural step.  
 
 Step Two  is for the General Council to approve in due course that proposal. That will be the 
decision with real legal implication s.  
5. Today, at this TPRB meeting, we are doing S tep One , the procedural step. Thereafter, some 
Members may have to complete their own dome stic proce dures before we all go to S tep Two . So, 
let me be clear: S tep Two  will not be taken immediately. We are not submitting the proposal to 
the General Council today. The proposal will be put on the General Council's meeting Agenda later , 
when all Mem bers are ready to do so. But I hope this will not take very long. Once the General 
Council decides to approve our proposal in due course, that General Council's decision will take 
effect for all Members. But, as the decision itself says, the new review cyc les will only apply from 
2019 onwards.  
6. What I have said just now has been confirmed by the legal advisors  from the WTO 
Secretariat . They have assured us that the approach we are taking is legally sound , because it 
fully satisfies the requirements of Articl e X:8 of the Marrakesh Agreement. The lawyers have also 
prepared the document in front of you, WT/TPR/391, so the text should also be in order and fit for 
purpose.  
7. Unless any Member wishes to take the floor, I would like now to propose that the TPRB 
approv e the submission of the proposal in due course to the General Council , as contained in 
document WT/TPR/391.  WT/TPR/R/ 7 
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  STATEMENTS BY MEMBER S 
THE SEPARATE  CUSTOMS  TERRITORY  OF TAIWAN,  PENGHU,  KINMEN  AND  MATSU  
8. Thank you Chair and happy New Year to everybody. We appre ciate your efforts and 
leadership throughout this 6th TPRM Appraisal and the tremendous significant achievements that 
have been  made. For the record, w e would like to reiterate our position in this case. We need more 
time for our domestic procedure and, th erefore, we echo your statement  that we should wait to 
send this proposal to the General Council meeting after all the Members are ready to do so. Thank 
you very much.  
JAPAN  
9. Thank you very much. I would like to briefly clarify what  the language  "effective as of 2019" 
means with regard  to specific cases. As far as I have understood, the new period (3, 5 and 
7 years) will begin after the final reviews scheduled to take place before 2019. When it comes to 
Members which are planned to be reviewed in 2019  like, for example, Japan, EU, Australia, India, 
Canada, Costa Rica, Kyrgyz Republic, Macedonia and so forth, with this amendment those 
Members will be reviewed in 2020 instead of  2019. Is this correct ? 
CHAIRPERSON  
10. Yes, this is correct.  
SOUTH  AFRICA  
11. Thank you Cha ir. We, South Africa, do not have any concerns as such with the content of 
the document. But we may need time for internal processes. So maybe we might want clarification 
as to: when we present the document to the General Council, what do we expect from Me mbers, 
what does that mean? For us the TPR is a customs union issue that South Africa will review with 
Members of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). The first meeting of SACU will take place 
sometime in February and that will have to be passed thro ugh or discussed at that meeting, 
thereafter, we will be able to say that we can approve. Thank you.  
CHAIRPERSON  
12. That is not a problem. As I have explained very clearly just now, what we are doing today 
does not have legal effect  in itself . We are taking a necessary procedural step , so that in due 
course, when all Members are ready to join the consensus, the proposal will be put to the General 
Council Agenda. Step Two for making the legal amendment will therefore take place later , when all 
Members  feel comf ortable and  are ready to join the consensus. The Secretariat will be checking 
Members' readiness in due course before the item is put on the General Council Agenda.  
INDIA  
13. Thank you Madam Chair. In reference  to what  Japan mentioned and in order to seek a li ttle 
clarification, w ould it be possible for the Secretariat to share the new cycles as they have been  
drafted for 2019 -2020 based on this proposal? At this stage, does the Secretariat have  the revised 
cycle for the year  2019 onwards?  
MR. WILLY  ALFARO  (SECRETARIAT)  
14. Thank you Madam Chair and thanks to India. Yes, we have been working in preparing the 
list of countries that could be reviewed as of 2019 and , in a previous informal meeting , I indicated 
that the  year 2019 will be very peculiar in the sense that,  if we apply 2019 immediately, the 
revised cycle will have only around 11 Members to be reviewed. And, therefore, that is why 
Members discussed that there has to be some sort of flexibility so as to apply this in a smooth 
manner. That means that we will be  inviting those Members that, according to the new cycle, 
should be reviewed in 2020, if they voluntarily agree to come one year earlier. We have had some 
indications of a couple of them saying that, in principle, they would be willing to do so and that 
would allow the smooth transition to the new cycle.  WT/TPR/R/ 7 
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  BANGLADESH  
15. Thank you Chair. Just one clarification . As per cycle, w e have our Trade Policy Review in 
2018. That will not be changed then?  
(Chairperson and Secretariat signalled agreement)  
CHAIRPERSON  
16. With no other Member asking for the floor, I propose again that the TPRB approve the 
submission of this proposal, contained in document WT/TPR/391, to the General Council. It is so 
agreed.  
(Chairperson gavelle d) 
17. I wish to thank you all sincerely for your partic ipation. I think the credits go to all Members 
that we have been able to take this matter through. Congratulations to you all and see you on the 
14th of February at Sierra Leone's Trade Policy Review . In the meantime, I think I have already 
heard that some  delegations might not be ready for the item to be put on the General Council 
Agenda at this stage. I would suggest that those delegations who do not expect themselves to be 
ready by the February General Council let the Secretariat know , so that we will ho ld it. We will not 
put the item on the General Council Agenda if we know that some of you are not ready. So please 
let the Secretariat know if that is your case. Thank you very much again.  
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