TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM
seventh Appraisal of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism
Chairperson:
H.E. Ambassador Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel (Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of)
Draft
Report
1 BACKGROUND
1.1. The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was created in 1989 on a
provisional basis under the GATT and confirmed by Annex 3 to the Marrakesh
Agreement Establishing the WTO. Paragraph F of Annex 3 determined
that the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) "shall undertake an appraisal of
the operation of the TPRM not more than five years after the entry into force
of the Agreement Establishing the WTO. The results of the appraisal will be
presented to the Ministerial Conference. It may subsequently undertake
appraisals of the TPRM at intervals to be determined by it or as requested by
the Ministerial Conference".
1.2. The first Appraisal of the TPRM (WT/MIN(99)/2) was undertaken in
1999, the second (WT/MIN(05)/1) in 2005, the third (WT/TPR/229) in 2008, the
fourth (WT/MIN(11)/6) in 2011, the fifth (WT/MIN(13)/5) in 2013, and the sixth
(WT/MIN(17)/9 in 2016. The sixth Appraisal concluded that "[t]he next Appraisal of the operation of
the TPRM should take place at a time to be decided by the TPRB, but not later
than within five years, and preferably not in the year of a WTO
Ministerial Conference. It is understood that nothing precludes the TPRB from
deciding on specific items for improvement before the next Appraisal. The next
Appraisal should include an assessment of the implementation of the conclusions
reached at this Appraisal, inter alia, in
terms of the transparency of Members' trade policies". The
seventh Appraisal was postponed from 2021 because of the 12th Ministerial
Conference, initially scheduled for 2021 and subsequently held in
June 2022.
1.3. With Members' agreement, the first TPRB meeting to discuss the
seventh Appraisal of the TPRM was held on 14 September 2022.
Eight informal open-ended meetings of the TPRB were held between
September 2022 and July 2023, chaired first by Ambassador Ángel Villalobos
Rodríguez (Mexico) and then by
Ambassador Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel (Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia). Several issues were discussed in nine dedicated sessions,
and tutorials and demonstrations were organized on the functioning of the
IT system for submitting questions and answers (Q&A). The Chairpersons
also made themselves available for bilateral and group consultations throughout
the exercise. In this regard, consultations were held with 11 interested
delegations and 3 group coordinators from 12 to 22 May with the aim of concluding
this Appraisal before the summer break. This Report was formally agreed at a
TPRB meeting on 26 July 2023.