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PRESS/TPRB/268 
24 July 2006 
 
(06-3525) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: NICARAGUA 
Recent economic progress could be  sustained by more multilateral 
liberalization 
Since its last review in 1999, Nicaragua has experienced a favourable economic development with 
moderate GDP growth, control of the fiscal deficit,  and reduction of external debt to sustainable 
levels, thanks to a macroeconomic adjustment programme, and a policy to keep markets open, 
according to a WTO Secretariat report on the Trade Policies and Practices of Nicaragua by the 
Trade Policy Review Body (TPR).  
The report notes that during the period under review, Nicaragua eliminated the import surcharge 
introduced in 1994, redrafted or amended its legislation in many areas, made scant use of contingency measures, applied limited non-tariff barriers and made improvements in areas such as 
import procedures, customs valuation, and intell ectual property protection, while additional 
reforms are under consideration. Nevertheless, while the average MFN tariff is relatively low, it has increased over the past years due largely to th e continuation of the process of harmonization 
under the Central American Common Market. 
 The report also says that to promote greater econ omic efficiency and diversification it would be 
particularly important for Nicaragua to further liberalize its economy on an MFN basis and anchor 
these efforts through multilateral commitments.  
The report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Nicaragua,  will be the basis for 
the second Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Nicaragua by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 
24 and 26 July 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/tp268.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  PRESS/TPRB/268 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 • Government report  
• 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 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: 
Bangladesh: 13 and 15 September 2006 
Congo: 27 and 29 September 2006 
Kyrgyz Republic: 9 and 11 October 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