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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 5 MARCH 2007  
 
PRESS/TPRB/279 
5 March 2007 
 
(07-0837) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: AUSTRALIA 
Continuing the reform agenda would solidify impressive economic 
performance 
Against the backdrop of continued wide-rangi ng structural reforms as well as sound 
macroeconomic policies, Australia’s economic performance has been impressive since the last trade policy review in 2002, with annual average GDP growth of 3.2%, according to a WTO 
Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Australia.  
 
The report notes that trade liberali zation, much of it unilateral, ha s been an integral part of the 
structural reforms that have contributed to this performance, also stimulated by the global boom 
in demand for mineral products that accounted fo r 48.4 % of total merchandise exports in 2005. 
In addition, the high degree of transparency in the formulation and eval uation of Australia’s 
economic policies  enhances government accountability and public debate over the merits of these 
policies. Consequently, transparency has contributed greatly to the continued process of reform. 
 
The report also notes the need to press ahead with structural reforms as outlined in the National 
Reform Agenda, especially those concerning key infr astructure-related services such as electricity, 
water and transport, in order to raise productivity. 
 
The report, along with a po licy statement by the Gove rnment of Australia, will be the basis for the 
fifth Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Australia by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 5 and 
7 March 2007. 
 The following documents are available in MS Word format on the WTO web-site. They can be downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp279.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  
• Report by Australia PRESS/TPRB/279 
Page 2 of 2 
  • 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 polici es 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 statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independen tly 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/bout iques/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: 
Canada:  21 and 23 March 2007 
Costa Rica:  16 and 18 April 2007 
Macao, China : 30 April and 2 May 2007 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tpr_e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews 
  
END