RESTRICTED  
  
WT/TPR/W /129  
 
16 May 2017  
(17-2620) Page: 1/5 
Trade Policy Review Body   
 
RULES OF PROCEDURE F OR MEETINGS OF  
THE TRADE POLICY REV IEW BODY  
DRAFT REVISION  
 The following revised rules of procedure for the Trade Policy Review Body were approved by 
the Body at its meeting on [15 June 2017]  to take account of the results of the Sixth Appraisal of the 
Trade Policy Review Mechanism.1  
 
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1. When the General  Council convenes  as the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB), it shall follow 
the rules of procedure of the General Council, except as set out below.  
  Chapter I - Meetings  
 
2. The TPRB shall meet, as appropriate, to conduct Trade Policy Reviews of Members, including 
the European Union considered as one trading entity. The TPRB shall also meet to undertake the 
Annual Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environme nt and in addition to 
consider the trade policy monitoring reports by the Director -General.   
 
3. The cycle of reviews provided for in Paragraph C (ii) of the Agreement on the Trade Policy 
Review Mechanism (TPRM)2 shall be applied with a general flexibility o f up to six months, if and as 
may be necessary. Schedules of subsequent reviews shall be established counting from the date of 
the previous review meeting. Members should adhere strictly to the timetables for the preparation 
of reviews, once agreed.  
Chapte r II - Agenda  
 
4. The convening notice containing the proposed agenda for each review meeting of the TPRB 
shall be circulated to all Members not later than five weeks for current timelines and eight weeks 
for alternative timeline s before the relevant meeting.  
5. The trade monitoring meetings will have a regular item on the agenda which gives an 
opportunity for Members to provide brief reports on significant changes in their trade policies 
between reviews, in the manner as envisaged in Section D of Annex 3 to the Marrakesh Agreement 
Establishing the WTO. Members volunteering to provide these reports shall inform the Secretariat 
not less than ten calendar days before the relevant meeting.  
6. For both review and trade monitoring meetings, m atters to be raised under "Oth er Business" 
shall be communicated to the Chairperson or the Secretariat not less than ten  calendar days 
before the relevant meeting.  
                                                
1 WT/TPR/389.  
2 Annex 3 to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization.  WT/TPR/W/129  
 
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    Chapter V - Officers  
 
7. The TPRB shall elect its own Chairperson from among the representatives of Members. The 
TPRB may a lso elect a Vice -Chairperson. The election shall take place at the first meeting of the 
year and shall take eff ect at the end of the meeting. The Chairperson and the Vice -Chairperson 
shall hold office until the end of the first meeting of the following yea r. 
8. If the Chairperson is absent from any meeting or part thereof, the Vice -Chairperson shall 
perform the  functions of the Chairperson. If a Vice -Chairperson is not elected or available, the 
Chairperson of the General Council, or in the latter's absence, th e Chairperson of the Dispute 
Settlement Body shall perform the  functions of the Chairperson. If the Chairpersons of the General 
Council and of the Dispute Settlement Body are also absent, the TPRB shall elect an interim 
Chairperson for the meeting or that part of the meeting.  
9. If the Chairperson and the Vice -Chairperson can no longer perform the functions of the 
office, the TPRB shall designate an interim Chairperson in accordance with paragraph 8 to perform 
those functions pending the election of a new Chai rperson.  
  Chapter VI - Conduct of Business  
 
10. The TPRB shall adopt a programme of reviews for each year, as referred to in Section C(iv) 
of the Agreement on the TPRM, by the middle of the previous calendar year.  
11. There shall be no requirement of a quorum for  the TPRB to conduct trade policy reviews.  
12. A review meeting shall take place in two sessions (each typically half  a day) with a day in 
between. While retaining the existing elements of the second session, Members may explore ways 
of adding value to it by o ffering to include, on a voluntary basis, innovative elements to the 
programme for their reviews, such as a question -and-answer session where Members could pose 
questions relating to the trade policy of the Member under review, or a panel discussion on 
elements of that trade policy. In all cases, details of these elements, including the forma t and 
scope of questions to be considered and the make -up of any panel, will be determined by the 
Member under review and will be conducted in informal mode.  
13. Both the current timelines and the alternative timelines (shown in Annex 1) will remain as 
options for the submission of written questions and answers. The choice will be made by the 
Member under review at the time of agreeing on the date of review.  
14. Documentation r elating to each review meeting shall be circulated in all working languages 
not less than five weeks in advance of the relevant meetings under the current timelines, or 
eight weeks in advance in the case of Members under review having volunteered to ap ply the 
alternative timelines.  
15. Reports by Members under review shall be in the form of policy statements, whose form and 
length is essentially to be determined by the Member under review. Secretariat reports should 
focus principally on the trade policies and p ractices of the Member under review, seen, to the 
extent necessary, in the context of overall macro -economic and structural policies.  
16. Members should submit written questions to the Member under review at least two weeks 
before the TPRB meeting under the cu rrent timelines, or five weeks in advance under the 
alternative timelines, to allow time to prepare replies.  
17. Members are encouraged to submit their written questions in as few batches as possible, 
and ideally in just one batch. In order to improve the cohe rence of their written questions, 
Members should group them into the following three categories: those related to the Secretariat 
report; those concerning the Government report; and other questions (as per template in  
Annex  2). Where the  questions relate t o the Secretariat or Government reports, they should refer 
to the paragraph numbers in these reports. Members are to follow these rules for the submission 
of questions, until a formal decision is taken to launch the new IT system which is being developed 
by the Secretariat for the submission of questions and answers, as envisaged in the 
Sixth Appraisal. Members will also continue to exercise restraint in raising questions.  WT/TPR/W/129  
 
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  18. The Secretariat should identify the main points contained in the questions submitted at least 
two weeks before a review meeting under the current timelines or five weeks under the alternative 
timelines, 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- or five-week deadline give ris e to significantly new issues.  
19. The Chair person 's Introductory Remarks should identify key themes for discussion, covering 
in particular issues of importance to th e multilateral tra ding system. The Chair person 's Concluding 
Remarks should be consistent across all TPRs. These remarks should not deal with matters being 
addressed by the Dispute Settlement Body. Nor shall they have any legal force.  
20. Initial  remarks by Members under review should be limited to 15 minutes and should 
provide an overview of policies, noting any new developments since the completion of the 
Secretariat and Government reports. Discussants' statements should not exceed in length that by 
Members under review. Member s' statements from the floor should not exceed seven minutes.  
21. Delegations that have submitted written questions will be invited by the Chairperson to 
speak first,  in the order in which the written questions were received. In the event of more than 
one bat ch of questions, the timing of the receipt of the final batch will determine the order of 
speakers.  Delegations not submitting written questions will continue to s peak second , in the order 
in which the ir flags are  raised . On the day before each review meet ing, 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.  
22. In accordance with the current timelines, advance questions submitted by the two -week 
deadlin e before the TPRB meeting should be answered in writing by Member under review by the 
start of the meeting. As regards the alternative timelines, advance questions submitted by the 
five-week deadline before the TPRB meeting should be answered in writing by  Members under 
review one week prior to the meeting to enable dissemination of written answers four working 
days prior to the meeting. Written questions posed subsequent to either of these deadlines should 
be answered, to the extent possible, before the st art of the second session of the meeting.  
23. The statement by Members under review at the beginning of the second session should be 
comprehensive and structured according to the main themes identified in consultation with the 
Chairperson, discussants and Secr etariat; these themes, based on the revised list of main points 
identified by the Secretariat in Members' advance written questions as well as their statements 
during the first session, should be distributed to Members in advance of the second session of a  
review meeting, where time will be given for discussion by discussants and Members of each 
theme.  
24. 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 
receiving a v ery large number of questions. Members under review are obliged to respond only to 
questions that are submitted or received within the TPRB’s prescribed deadlines.  
25. Members on the longest review cycle , especially  least-developed countries , can request a 
follow -up to their TPRs. This follow -up could involve a workshop/seminar to discuss and 
disseminate the results of the review as well as to identify the trade -related technical assistance 
and capacity -building need s of the reviewed Members.  
  Chapter IX - Records  
 
26. Reports by the Member under review and by the Secretariat shall be derestricted 
immediately on the expiry of the relevant press embargo; a Member under review may request the 
Chair to de -restrict the two reports at an earlier date.  
27. The Annual Report by the Director -General on the Overview of Developments in the 
International Trading Environment and minutes of TPRB meetings shall be issued as unrestricted 
documents.  
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  ANNEX 1  
 
Timelines for D istribution and Receipt of Documents  
 
 Weeks (working days)  
before TPRB  
Current  Alternative  
Secretariat and Government Reports to translation  9 12 
Distribution of Reports to Members  5 8 
Receipt of Written Questions from Members   2 5 
Receipt of Writt en Answers from Member under Review   By the start of the 
meeting  1 
Dissemination of Written Answers, Notes, etc.a  
(working days)  (0) (4) 
a Secretariat's list of subjects covered by advance written questions and Addendum (if  necessary) to 
the Secretariat  and Government Reports.  WT/TPR/W/129  
 
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  ANNEX 2  
 
Proposed Format of Written Questions for Reference  
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW  OF MEMBER A  
WRITTEN QUESTIONS FR OM MEMBER B  
PART I:  QUESTIONS R EGARDING THE SECRETARIAT REPORT  
II. TRADE POLICY REGIME:   FRAMEWORK AND OBJECT IVES 
Page 11 (Para 1)  
 
Member A 's overall trade policy aim has remained unchanged since its previous Trade Policy Review;  it is to 
accelerate the opening of its economy to the outside world, to introduce foreign technology and know -how, 
develop foreign trade, and promote economic development that is "mutually benefici al" with its trading 
partners. In this context, Member A  has recently concentrated more on the opening up of its services sectors.   
 
Questions : 
 
1. Does Member A  have any  plans to unilaterally lib eraliz e the services sectors?   
 
2. If so, could Member A  please elaborate on these plans and the anticipated timeframes?  
 
PART II:  QUESTIONS REGARDING THE GOVERNMENT REPORT  
Page 18 (Para 65)  
 
In April 2009, Member A  decided to launch a pilot program to  settle the cross -border trade in the local 
currency in five c ities.  The implementation measures followed up in July that year.   
 
Questions:  
 
3. Would Member A please explain the effectiveness of the pilot program on settlement of cross -border 
trade in the local currency ? 
 
4. How does the Government of Member A intend to enhance the utility of this settlement program?  
 
PART III:  OTHER QUESTIONS  
Reference No., title and date of law, decree, regulation, etc.  
 
Description and specific information  
 
Questio ns: 
 
5.  
 
 
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