PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 10 DECEMBER 2007  
 
PRESS/TPRB/292 
10 December 2007 
 
(07-5406) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: TURKEY 
Acceleration of reforms would help sustain strong growth 
Since its third Trade Policy Review (TPR) in 2003, Turkey has been implementing ambitious 
reforms that have resulted in high economic gr owth, rapid disinflation, and declining public and 
external debt burdens, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of Turkey 
published by the WTO Secretariat.   
An important element in Turkey’s performance is that its applied MFN tariff on non-agricultural 
goods are at relatively low rates. The high level of tariff protection for agriculture, however, has limited the exposure of the sector to competition. The report states that an acceleration of 
Turkey’s structural reforms, extension of the sco pe of tariff binding commitments, reduction of 
bound rates, and further tariff rationalization would help sustain its economic performance.  
An additional favourable factor is that Turkey has moved to improve the investment climate. As a 
result, Turkey’s annual Foreign Direct Investment  inflows reached a peak estimated at around 
US$20,000 million in 2006. Nevertheless, the report indicates that a number of sectors are still 
subject to FDI restrictions (e.g. broadcasting, fishing, petroleum, mining, and financial services). 
Turkey also continues to build on an extensive ne twork of preferential trade agreements due to its 
customs union with the EC. 
 
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Turkey, will be the basis for 
the fourth TPR of Turkey by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 10 and 12 December 
2007. 
 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/tp292_e.htm  
 • Secretariat reports 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  > Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  > Appendix tables  PRESS/TPRB/292 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 • Report by Government of Turkey 
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO Agreement, 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: 
Pakistan: 16 and 18 of January 2008 
Ghana: 28 and 30 of January 2008 
Mexico: 11 and 13 February 2008 
 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