PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 1 FEBRUARY 2006  
 
PRESS/TPRB/258 
1 February 2006 
 
(06-0420) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: ISRAEL 
Shift to high-tech contributed to increases in exports and 
economic growth 
The recovery of Israel’s economy from the early 2000’s recession has been mostly led by exports, 
in particular by innovation and a shift to high-technology goods and services, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Israel. 
 
The report notes the high level of protection still in place for agriculture. It stresses that continued structural and trade reforms, including further privatizations, MFN tariff reductions (on agricultural 
goods in particular) and reduction in the gap between bound and applied tariff rates, would 
enhance predictability and transparency of the trade regime; further reforms of import duties would enhance adherence by Israel to its WTO commitments. 
 
The report also highlights Israel’s unilateral lifting of its general prohibition on imports from WTO Members that have no diplomatic relations with it or prohibit imports from Israel, a move that the 
authorities hope will be appreciated and reciprocated. 
 The report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Israel, w ill be the basis for the 
third Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Israel by th e Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 1 and 3 
February 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/tp258.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/258 
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: 
Angola : 14 and 16 February 2006 
Djibouti : 27 February and 1 March 2006 
United States : 13 and 15 March 2006 
 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