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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 24 NOVEMBER 2008  
 
PRESS/TPRB/307 
15 December 2008 
 
(08-6109) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
Liberalization continues but econ omic efficiency needs to be 
improved 
Since its previous trade policy review in 2002, the Dominican Republic has continued with the 
liberalization of its trade regime, and its participation in the global economy has remained intense. While giving priority to the multilateral trade agenda, the Dominican Republic has also sought to 
further its integration into the global economy through preferential agreements, according to a 
WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of the Dominican Republic.  
Economic growth over the period under review ha s been significant but distinctly cyclical, the 
report notes. It also stresses the disparities in the incentives framework which still favours some groups to the detriment of others and leads to inefficiencies in some sectors such as electricity. 
 
The report says that this situation would best be addressed by taking additional steps to enhance competition in the domestic market and rationalizing fiscal incentives in order to improve economic 
efficiency and strengthen the fiscal situation to help smooth out economic cycles. 
 The WTO report, along with a policy statement by  the Government of the Dominican Republic, will 
be the basis for the third TPR of the Dominican Re public by the Trade Policy Review Body of the 
WTO on 24 and 26 November 2008.  
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/tp307_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  
• Report by Government of the Dominican Republic 
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/307 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 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 review: 
Liechtenstein and Switzerland: 15 and 17 December 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