Trade Policy Review: El Salvador - Liberalization has moved forward but fiscal privileges still distort economic incentives

PRESS RELEASE EMBARGO NOT FOR PUBLICATION, or distribution by news agencies UNTIL 1400 Geneva time (1300 GMT) 10 February 2010 PRESS/TPRB/326 10 February 2010 (10-0726) trade policy review: el salvador Liberalization has moved forward but fiscal privileges still distort economic incentives El Salvador has continued to liberalize its trade regime since its previous Trade Policy Review in 2003, and has made progress in modernizing customs, eliminating unnecessary licensing requirements, enhancing the transparency of technical regulations and SPS measures, and strengthening the institutional framework for competition policy and government procurement. As part of its liberalization efforts, El Salvador has also entered into three new preferential trade agreements and continues to assign high priority to deepening Central American integration, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of El Salvador. Economic growth has been modest, and is unde