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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1200  GMT) 27 APRIL 2005  
 
PRESS/TPRB/246 
27 April 2005 
 
(05-1702) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: PARAGUAY 
Stability of the trade and investme nt regime, crucial to achieve 
sustainable growth 
Paraguay has made significant efforts to streamline and modernize its trade regimen since its first 
Review in 1997 including a reduction of applied MF N tariffs to an average of 8.9 per cent, but the 
country’s economic performance has remained modest reflecting both the impact of exogenous 
shocks and internal problems, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and 
practices of Paraguay published today.  
The report notes that further steps appear to be required to accelerate growth and ensure its 
sustainability. Attracting new investment to improv e efficiency and, thus, enhancing the stability of 
the trade and investment regime are particularly important.  The report says that this could be 
achieved by expanding Paraguay’s multilateral  commitments, particularly under the GATS. 
 The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Paraguay, will be the basis 
for the second Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Paragu ay by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO 
on 27 and 29 of April 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/tp246.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/246 
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: 
Nigeria : 11 and 13 of May 2005 
Ecuador : 8 and 10 June 2005 
The Philippines : 5 and 7 July 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