WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/W/33 
12 August 2005 
 (05-3584) 
Trade Policy Review Body  
  
 
SECOND APPRAISAL OF THE OPERATION OF THE 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM  
 
Draft Report to Ministers
 
 
Chairman:  H.E. Mr. Don Stephenson 
  
In consequence of this Appraisal the TPRB will e ffect the following changes in the operation of the 
TPRM:  the lead times before the review meeting will be  five weeks for documents to be distributed 
and two weeks for advance written questions to be submitted;   Members under review should provide 
written answers at the start of the first session to advance questions submitted by the established 
deadline and, to the extent possible, by the sec ond session for questions s ubmitted subsequently; the 
present derestriction practices are thought appropriate but  a Member under review may request the 
Chair of the TPRB to derestrict the Government and Secretariat reports before the first session of the 
TPRB meeting;  efforts will be made to publish the final TPRB documentation in all WTO official 
languages within three months after the review meeti ng;  final documents, including those available 
through the WTO website, will include any revisi ons made after the distribution of meeting 
documents;  and the TPRB's annual overview of developments in the international trading 
environment will be conducted early in the year if possible.  
The TPRB should undertake a further appraisal of the operation of the TPRM two years after the 
conclusion of the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference. 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The Trade Policy Review Mech anism (TPRM) was established in 1989 on a provisional basis 
and confirmed by Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreem ent Establishing the World Trade Organization.  
Paragraph F of Annex 3 requires that the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) "shall undertake an 
appraisal of the operation of the TPRM not more than  five years after the entry into force of the 
Agreement Establishing the WTO.  The results of th e appraisal will be presented to the Ministerial 
Conference.  It may subsequently undertake appraisal s of the TPRM at intervals to be determined by 
it or as requested by the Ministerial Conference." 
2. The TPRB undertook the first appraisal of the ope ration of the TPRM in 1999, and adopted its 
Report to the Third Session of the Ministerial C onference on 5 October 1999.  The Report concluded 
that "the TPRB should undertake a further appraisal of the operation of the TPRM not more than five 
years after the conclusion of the Third WTO Minister ial or as requested by a Ministerial Conference". 
3. The TPRB agreed on 31 May 2005 on a procedure to carry out the second appraisal of the 
operation of the TPRM.  Subsequently the TPRB held [four] informal meetings, in the period May to 
July 2005, and adopted this Report to Ministers on [... 2005].  The meetings considered issues and 
proposals brought forward by Members and was assisted by a non-paper. WT/TPR/W/33 
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 II. TPRM MISSION AND OBJECTIVES 
4. The TPRB reaffirmed the relevance of TPRM's mission as defined in Annex 3.  The TPRM 
had been conceived as a policy exercise and it was therefore not intended to serve as a basis for the 
enforcement of specific WTO obligations or for dispute settlement procedures, or to impose new 
policy commitments on Members.  The Mechanism s hould thus remain focused on contributing to the 
smoother functioning of the multilateral trading syst em by achieving greater transparency in, and 
understanding of, the trade policies and practices of Me mbers.  Reviews should c ontinue to take place 
against the background of the wider economic and development needs, policies and objectives of the 
Members concerned, as well as of their external en vironment, taking into account any trade-related 
issues that the Member under review considers important. 
5. The TPRM had functioned effectively and its  objectives were being achieved.  The 
Mechanism had demonstrated that it had a valuab le public-good aspect, and had been a vehicle for 
Members to reflect on their policies, served as an input into policy formulation, and highlighted 
general technical assistance needs.   
6. The TPRB considered that priority  should continue to be given to ensuring that all Members 
are reviewed at least once, as soon as possible. 
III. PROCESS OF PREPARING REVIEWS 
7. The TPRB was satisfied with the present process of preparing reviews, including Secretariat 
visits to capitals, the drafting and verification of  Secretariat reports, and the practice of appointing 
contact persons in Members under review.  Review s of developing and least  developed countries 
should continue to give special a ttention to identifying general technical assistance needs.  To assist 
Members, the Secretariat was requested to prepare general guidelines on the process of preparing a review. 
8. The resource-intensive nature of the TPRM m eans that all efforts should be made for 
maximum efficiency in the use of resources.  In this  context, to avoid duplication, the two way flow of 
information between the Trade Policies Review Di vision and other parts of the WTO Secretariat 
should continue while preserving restricted inform ation and Members' rights and obligations.  The 
TPRB also welcomed the resource-saving aspects of using, under the authority of Annex 3, trade-
relevant information from other in tergovernmental organizations.  Ho wever, the different mandates of 
the WTO and other organizations required that the TP RM maintain its capacity for its own analysis, it 
being the only multilateral, comprehensive evaluation of trade policies. 
IV. SECRETARIAT AND GOVERNMENT REPORTS 
9. The TPRB saw the Secretariat and Government reports as complementary, and was satisfied 
with the current structure, contents and quality of  both reports.  The TPRB considered that Members 
should remain free to define the structure of their own reports, and to cover any issues they consider 
relevant to the TPRB's work.  Members were encour aged to keep their reports short, highlighting 
recent and future policy directions and their impact on trade.     
10. The Secretariat should continue to prepare comp rehensive, self-contained, objective reports 
that, together with the Government's report,  assist the TPRB to arrive at a collective, fully 
informed evaluation of a Member's trade policies and practices, and their impact on the multilateral 
trading system.  The TPRB saw scope for Secretariat reports of different Members to have a more 
uniform coverage, and to be more reader-frie ndly including through the greater use of summary 
tables, links to the internet, and referen ce to the outcomes of previous reviews ( by means of a 
synopsis in the Secretariat report of the Chai rman's Concluding Remarks for the previous 
review ).  As active participation in meetings depend ed on the timely availability of documents, the  WT/TPR/W/33 
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 TPRB felt it essential that the Government and Secretar iat reports be distributed in all WTO official 
languages five weeks  before the review meeting.   
V. TPRB MEETINGS 
11. The TPRB judged that the appropriate time sp an for a TPRB review remains two sessions 
(each typically half a day) with a day in between , believing that, at present, the benefits from this 
arrangement outweighed its costs.  The TPRB felt that  the advance distribution of the main topics to 
be covered during the second session could promote a more interactive discussion, as could a more pro-active participation by discussants.   
12. The TPRB reiterated the importance for Memb ers under review to respect all agreed 
deadlines for the preparation of TPRB meetings.  In this regard, the Secretariat should continue to 
regularly inform the TPRB of possible delays affecting the review process. 
13. The TPRB stressed the importance of all advan ce written questions being submitted at least 
two weeks before the review meeting.  Advan ce questions submitted by this deadline should be 
answered in writing by the Member under review by  the start of the first session of the meeting.  
Questions posed subsequently should  be answered, to the extent po ssible, before the start of the 
second session of the meeting.  Questions left una nswered at the end of the second session should be 
answered in writing no later than one month afte r the meeting with some latitude in the Chair's 
discretion for Members receiving a very large num ber of questions.  Members will be regularly 
informed on the status of the "question and answer process".  
14. The TPRB welcomed the use of grouped reviews as  an instrument to make a more efficient 
use of resources and generate greater interest in the reviews of smaller Members.  The TPRB 
encouraged the identification of further opportun ities for reviews of geographically or economically 
close trading partners, while taking due account of  their rights and obligations as individual WTO 
Members. 
15. The TPRB stressed the importance of its an nual overview of developments in the 
international trading environment, provided for in Section G of Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement, 
and thought it appropriate to schedule its releva nt meeting as early as possible in the year.  
VI. DISSEMINATION 
16. The TPRB considered present dissemination practices as satisfactory but noted the value of 
building greater awareness within the wider pub lic of TPRM work.  The Secretariat was thus 
encouraged to publish the respective documentatio n in all WTO official languages within three 
months after the review meeting.  Written questio ns and answers should be included in the final 
publication provided this does not create delays in the publication of documents.  The published 
documentation, including that available through the WTO website, should reflect any revisions made 
after the distribution of the meeting documents. 
17. The TPRB thought appropriate the present practice of de-restricting the Government and 
Secretariat reports at the end of the first session of the TPRB meeting.  However, on a case by case 
basis, a Member under review may request the Chair of the TPRB to de-restrict  the two reports at an 
earlier date. 
VII. CONCLUSIONS 
• The TPRB reaffirmed the great importance that Members attached to the mission and objectives 
defined in Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement for the TPRM, this being the only multilateral, 
comprehensive evaluation of trade policies.  The TPRM was functioning effectively and changes WT/TPR/W/33 
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 to its operation should aim to enhance its va lue within the mandate of Annex 3 without 
jeopardizing its present satisfactory overall opera tion.  Efforts to maximize efficiency should 
continue in view of the resour ce-intensive nature of the TPRM. 
• The WTO Secretariat should continue to give prio rity to reviewing all Members at least once as 
soon as possible, avoid duplication by using info rmation within the Secretariat and from other 
intergovernmental organizations, and prep are comprehensive and objective reports. 
• Further opportunities for grouped reviews s hould be sought while taking due account of 
individual Members' rights and obligations. 
• The appropriate time span for a review shoul d remain two sessions with a day in between. 
• All agreed deadlines for a review should be respected, including the five week  lead time for 
documents to be distributed and two weeks be fore the review meeting for advance written 
questions to be submitted.  
• Members under review should provide written answer s at the start of the first session to advance 
questions submitted by the established deadline and,  to the extent possible, by the second session 
for questions submitted subsequently. Questions left unanswered at the end of the second session 
should be answered in writing no later than one m onth after the meeting with some latitude in the 
Chair's discretion for Members receiving a very large number of questions.   
• The TPRB thought appropriate the practice of de -restricting the Government and Secretariat 
reports at the end of the first session of the TPRB meeting.  However, on a case by case basis, a Member under review may request the Chair of the TPRB to de-restrict the two reports at an earlier date. 
• Efforts should be made to publish the final TP RB documentation in all WTO official languages 
within three months after the review meeting.  Final documents, including those available through 
the WTO website, should include any revisions made after the distribution of meeting documents.   
• The TPRB's annual overview of developments in th e international trading environment should be 
conducted early in the year if possible. 
• The TPRB should undertake a further appraisal of the operation of the TPRM two years after the 
conclusion of the Sixth WTO Ministerial. 
 
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