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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 22 NOVEMBER 2006  
 
PRESS/TPRB/273 
22 November 2006 
 
(06-5583) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: COLOMBIA 
Clear progress in modernization and liberalization but further 
reforms needed 
Colombia has achieved steady economic growth in recent years, and has made definite progress in 
the modernization and liberalization of its trade regime since its previous review in 1996. Non-tariff barriers to trade have been significantly reduced and the country has embarked on an 
ambitious programme of reforms of many economic sectors particularly services, according to a 
WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Colombia.   
The report notes that to consolidate and broaden these gains it would be important to address, 
among others, certain practices related to customs, import licensing, local content requirements, internal taxes and the regulation of certain servic es. It would be also useful to reassess export 
promotion and incentive schemes. 
 The report, along with policy statement by the Gove rnment of Colombia, will be the basis for the 
third Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Colombia by  the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 22 
and 24 November 2006.  
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp273.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  > Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Report by the Government of Colombia  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/273 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Hong Kong, China : 13 and 15 December 2006 
Chad : 15 and 17 January 2007 
Japan : 31 January and 2 February 2007 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END