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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 9 FEBRUARY 2005  
 
PRESS/TPRB/243 
9 February 2005 
 
(05-0512) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: SIERRA LEONE 
Reconstruction efforts to be based on sound policy making 
Since the end of civil unrest in 2002 and the return to a democratically elected Government, Sierra 
Leone, the poorest country in the world, has made intensive efforts to strengthen the legal and 
institutional framework for coherent and sound policy-making and to promote export and market 
diversification with the result of vibrant growth in  the economy, according to a report on the trade 
policies and practices of Sierra Leone published by the WTO Secretariat. 
 
Sierra Leone depends heavily on exports of diam onds, its dominant activity accounting for more 
than 90% of total exports, and has joined the Kimberley process of mandatory certificate-of-origin 
requirements that has contributed to the consider able growth of registered diamonds trade and 
the resulting fiscal revenue rise.  
In 2003 Sierra Leone was the first WTO Member to benefit from a new facility, the Trade Policy 
Clinics, to contribute to improving transparency in domestic policies at national and multilateral level; in November 2004 it was included in the Integrated Framework process. In 2005 the country 
will continue receiving technical assistance thro ugh different programmes, workshops or seminars 
on a number of issues , including negotiating techniques and meetings to promote awareness 
among parliamentarians, in an effort to promote the country’s better integration in the multilateral 
trading system. 
 The WTO report, along with a policy statement by th e Government of Sierra Leone will be the basis 
for the first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Sierra Leone by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO 
on 9 and 11 of February 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/tp243.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  > Trade policies by sector  PRESS/TPRB/243 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 > Appendix tables  
• 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: 
Qatar : 21 and 23 of February 2005 
Mongolia : 15 and 17 of March 2005 
Paraguay : 27 and 29 April 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