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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 25 JANUARY 2005  
 
PRESS/TPRB/242 
25 January 2005 
 
(05-0280) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: JAPAN 
Further structural reforms can contribute to a sustained recovery 
Since its previous Trade Policy Review, in 2002, Japan’s economic situation has improved, particularly compared with the previous decade of  slow growth, according to a report on the trade 
policies and practices of Japan published by the WTO Secretariat. 
 Japan has introduced various measures aimed at further liberalizing its trade and investment 
regimes and progress has been made in improving the competitive environment, including in 
telecommunications and financial services. Howe ver, the use of contingency measures is 
somewhat more evident than before, and potentially important distortions to competition remain in 
some sectors particularly in agriculture. 
 The report says that a sustained recovery would appear to hinge on continued structural reforms, 
particularly with regard to: the financial and corporate sectors; competition policy; pensions; and 
agriculture. If implemented, these reforms woul d help restore business and consumer confidence, 
contributing to the sustainability of Japan’s economic recovery. 
 
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Japan will be the basis for 
the seventh Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Japan by  the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 25 
and 27 of January 2005. 
 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/tp242.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  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/242 
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: 
Sierra Leone : 9 and 11 February 2005 
Qatar : 21 and 23 of February 2005 
Mongolia : 15 and 17 of March 2005 
 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