WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/TPR/W/45/Rev.1 
20 January 2012 
 (12-0410) 
Trade Policy Review Body  
  
 
 
DRAFT REVISION 
 
RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR MEETINGS OF 
THE TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY 
 
 
  The following revised rules of procedure for th e Trade Policy Review Body were approved by 
the Body at its meeting on 27 January 2012 to take account of the resu lts of the Fourth Appraisal of the 
Trade Policy Review Mechanism.
1  Revisions in the rules of pr ocedure stemming from the Fourth 
Appraisal shall be implemented on a provisional ba sis until the Fifth Appraisal has been concluded. 
 
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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 con duct 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 Environment and in 
addition to consider the trade policy monito ring reports by the Director-General.   
 
3. The cycle of reviews provided for in Paragra ph C (ii) of the Agreement on the Trade Policy 
Review Mechanism (TPRM)2 shall be applied with a general flex ibility of up to six months, if and as 
may be necessary.  Schedules of subsequent review s 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. 
Chapter 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 seven weeks 
for alternative timelines before the relevant meeting.  Matters to be raised under "Other Business" 
shall be communicated to the Chairperson or the Secr etariat not less than ten calendar days before the 
relevant meeting. 
                                                      
1 WT/MIN(11)/6.  
2 Annex 3 to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization.  WT/TPR/W/45/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
    Chapter V - Officers 
 
5. The TPRB shall elect its own Chairperson from among the representatives of Members.  The 
TPRB may also elect a Vice-Chairperson.  The election shall take place at the first meeting of the year and shall take effect 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 year. 
6. If the Chairperson is absent from any meeting or part thereof, the Vice-Chairperson shall 
perform the functions of the Chairperson.  If a Vi ce-Chairperson is not elected or available, the 
Chairperson of the General Council, or in the la tter's absence, the 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 sh all elect an interim 
Chairperson for the meeting or that part of the meeting. 
7. If the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson can no longer perform the functions of the 
office, the TPRB shall designate an interim Chairp erson in accordance with paragraph 6 to perform 
those functions pending the election of a new Chairperson. 
  Chapter VI - Conduct of Business 
 
8. The TPRB shall adopt a programme of reviews fo r each year, as referred to in Section C(iv) 
of the Agreement on the TPRM, by the middle of the previous calendar year. 
9. There shall be no requirement of a quorum fo r the TPRB to conduct trade policy reviews. 
10. A TPRB meeting shall normally take place in two sessions (each typically half a day) with a 
day in between.  Upon request by a Member unde r review, the Chairperson shall consult with 
Members on the possibility of holding a one-day mee ting for that Member on a pilot basis (with the 
first session in the morning and the second in the afternoon). 
11. Current timelines for submission of written que stions and answers shall be maintained.  
However, Members under review may volunteer to apply the alternative timelines (shown in Annex 
1) on a pilot basis.  Volunteers should inform the TPR B, through the Secretariat, of their choice of the 
alternative timelines at the time the da tes for their TPRB meetings are set.  
12. Documentation relating to each review meeting sh all be circulated in all working languages 
not less than five weeks in advance of the releva nt meetings under the current timelines, or seven 
weeks in advance in the case of Members under re view having volunteered to apply the alternative 
timelines.   
13. Reports by Members under review shall be in th e form of policy statements, whose form and 
length is essentially to be determined by the Memb er under review.  Secretariat reports should focus 
principally on the trade policies and practices of  the Member under review, seen, to the extent 
necessary, in the context of overall m acro-economic and structural policies. 
14. Members should submit written questions to th e Member under review at least two weeks 
before the TPRB meeting under the current timelines, or four weeks in advance under the alternative 
timelines, to allow time to prepare replies.   
15. 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 coherence 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   WT/TPR/W/45/Rev.1 
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  questions relate to the Secretariat or Government reports, they should refer to the paragraph numbers 
in these reports. 
16. The Secretariat should identify the main points contained in the questions submitted at least 
two weeks before a review meeting under the curren t timelines or four 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 four-
week deadline give rise to significantly new issues.   
17. The Chairperson's Introductory Remarks should identify key themes for discussion, covering 
in particular issues of importance to the multilateral trading system.  The Chairperson'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. 
18. During the first session of the TPRB Meeting,  initial remarks by Members under review 
should be limited to 15 minutes and should prov ide 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 Me mbers under review.  Members' statements from the 
floor should not exceed seven minutes.  
19. Delegations that have submitted written questions will be invited by the Chairperson to speak 
first, in the order in which the written questions were recei ved.  In the event of more than one batch of 
questions, the timing of the receipt of the fi nal batch will determine the order of speakers.   
Delegations not submitting written ques tions will continue to speak second , in the order in which their 
flags are raised.  
20. In accordance with the current timelines, a dvance questions submitte d by the two-week 
deadline before the TPRB meeting should be answer ed in writing by Member under review by the 
start of the meeting.  As regards the alternativ e timelines, advance questions submitted by the four-
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 eith er of these deadlines should be answered, to 
the extent possible, before the start of the second session of the meeting.   
21. The statement by Members under review at the beginning of the second session should be 
comprehensive and structured according to the ma in themes identified in consultation with the 
Chairperson, discussants and Secretariat; 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 TPRB 
meeting, where time will be given for discussion by discussants and Members of each theme.     
22. Questions left unanswered at the end of th e 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 very large number of questions.  Memb ers under review are obliged to respond only to 
questions that are submitted or received within the TPRB’s prescribed deadlines. 
23. Members on a six-year frequency, 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 tr ade-related technical assistance and capacity-building 
needs of the reviewed Members.  WT/TPR/W/45/Rev.1 
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  24. The possibility of video-conferencing, web- linking or podcasting TPRB Meetings should be 
offered to Members under review as long as the Secret ariat is able to provide this service within 
existing budget limitations. 
  Chapter IX - Records 
 
25. Reports by the Member under review and by the Secretariat shall be de restricted immediately 
on the expiry of the relevant press embargo; a Me mber under review may request the Chair to de-
restrict the two reports at an earlier date. 
26. 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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  WT/TPR/W/45/Rev.1 
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Annex 1 
 
Timelines for Distribution and Receipt of Documents 
 
 Weeks (working days)before TPRB
 Current  Alternative
Secretariat and Government Reports to translation  9  11 
Distribution of Reports to Members  5 7 
Receipt of Written Questions from Members  2 4 
Receipt of Written 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 ques tions and Addendum (if 
necessary) as well as Secretariat and Government Reports. WT/TPR/W/45/Rev.1 
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Annex 2 
 
Proposed Format of Written Questions for Reference 
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW OF MEMBER A  
 
WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM MEMBER B 
 
PART I:  QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SECRETARIAT REPORT 
II TRADE POLICY REGIME:  FRAMEWORK AND OBJECTIVES 
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 ope ning of its 
economy to the outside world, to introduce foreign technology a nd know-how, develop foreign trade,  and promote economic develop ment 
that is "mutually beneficial" with its trading partners.  In th is context, Member A has recentl y concentrated more on the openi ng up of its 
services sectors.   
 Questions: 
 1. Does Member A have any plans to unilate rally liberalise 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 cities .  The 
implementation measures followe d up in July that year.   
 
Questions: 
 
3. Would Member A please explain the effec tiveness of the pilot program on settlement of cross-border trade in the local curren cy? 
 
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 
 
Questions: 
 
5.  
 
 
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