TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM
COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE TRADE
POLICY REVIEW BODY
AMBASSADOR KAIRAT TOREBAYEV (KAZAKHSTAN)
The Gambia
Arrangements
for Review Meeting
1._
In pursuance of Article IV, paragraph 4 and Annex 3 of
the WTO Agreement, a meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body is scheduled for 4
and 6 February 2026 to conduct the fourth review of the trade policies and
practices of The Gambia (_
WTO/AIR/TPR/188).
2._
This communication sets out arrangements concerning the review meeting.
In this connection, attention is also drawn to the procedures for the conduct
of reviews contained in the rules of procedure of the Trade Policy Review Body
(_WT/TPR/6/Rev.4).
1 QUESTIONS IN WRITING IN ADVANCE OF THE
MEETING AND MAIN POINTS
3._
Members wishing
to submit written questions to the Member under review should do so normally at
least two weeks before the review meeting to allow replies to be prepared
in time for the first session of the meeting. For the forthcoming review,
such questions should therefore be with the Trade Policies Review Division of
the Secretariat (tprd@wto.org) by 5.30 p.m. on 21 January 2026, at the latest. Advance
written questions should reach the Secretariat no later than the day before the
start of the meeting, by 2 p.m. at the latest to allow time for the Secretariat
to process them. Questions sent on the day of the meeting will be processed
after the end of the first session of the meeting. Pilot testing of the new
online Q&A system will continue for the TPR of The Gambia. Members are
requested to submit their written questions to The Gambia by email through the Secretariat
following normal procedures. The time of receipt of Members questions by email
will determine each Members' place on the speakers' list. Members are then
asked to upload their questions to the Q&A Platform.
4._
In accordance with the rules of procedure of the TPRB (_WT/TPR/6/Rev.4, paragraph 17), Members are
reminded that they should group their written questions into the following
three categories so as to facilitate responses: those related to the
Secretariat report (with a reference to relevant paragraph numbers); those
concerning the Government report (with a reference to relevant paragraph
numbers); and other questions.
5._
The Secretariat
shall identify the main points contained in the questions submitted at least
two weeks before a review meeting, post them on the Members' website one week
before the meeting, and distribute a revised list of main points during the
first session of a review when questions received after the two‑week
deadline give rise to significantly new issues. The main points may be found on
the Members' website under "Forthcoming Meetings: Documents for
Meetings".
2 ANSWERS IN WRITING BY THE MEMBER UNDER
REVIEW
6._
Answers by the
Member under review should be distributed in writing; advance questions
submitted by the two‑week deadline before the start of the TPRB review should
be answered in writing by the Member under review by the start of the meeting.
Questions posed subsequently should be answered, to the extent possible, before
the start of the second session of the meeting. Questions left unanswered at
the end of the second session should be answered in writing no later than one month
after the meeting with some latitude in the Chair's discretion for Members
reviewing a very large number of questions.
3 DISCUSSANT
7._
In
consultation with the Member under review, the Chairperson of the Trade Policy
Review Body has chosen Ambassador H.E. Mr. Hakan Çakil (Türkiye) to serve as
discussant for the Review of The Gambia in his personal capacity.
4 STRUCTURE OF THE MEETING
8._
Trade policy
reviews cover four broad headings:
a._
appreciation of
the full range of the Member's trade policies and practices;
b._
relevant
background: wider economic and developmental needs, including the external
environment;
c._
impact of the
Member's trade policies and practices on the functioning of the multilateral
trading system; and
d._
general comments
by way of assessment and evaluation.
9._
Meetings take
place in two sessions. The first session is devoted to the opening
statements by the Member under review and the discussant, and remarks and
questions from the floor. The discussion in the second session, when the
Member under review will reply to questions, is based on main themes identified
after the opening meeting by the Chairperson, the discussant, and the
Secretariat in consultation with the Member.
10._ As indicated in the rules of procedure for TPRB meetings (_WT/TPR/6/Rev.4,
paragraph 21), the speakers' list will follow the order in which questions
are received by the Secretariat and in the event of more than one batch, the
final batch will determine the order of speakers. Delegations not submitting
written questions will continue to speak second, in the order in which their
flags are raised. On the day before each review meeting, the Secretariat will
post on the WTO Members' website a provisional list of speakers for the first
session of that meeting, for Members' advance information.
5 DOCUMENTATION AND PRESS ARRANGEMENTS
11._ Reports by the Member under review and the Secretariat are contained
in the following documents:
_WT/TPR/G/482 Report
by The Gambia
_WT/TPR/S/482 The
Gambia: Report by the Secretariat
12._ The press embargo for the review of
The Gambia will end at 2 p.m. Geneva time on 4 February 2026.
6 RECORD OF THE MEETING
13._
The record of the
meeting will be circulated as a draft to Members for comments on their own
statements and placed on the WTO website.
__________