Seventh Appraisal of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism

Report on the second DEDICATED SESSION ON the secretariat report of 23 June 2023

Chairperson: H.E. Mr Saqer Abdullah ALMOQBEL (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

1.       The second dedicated session on Trade Policy Review (TPR) reports (so-called "Basket 2") was held on 23 June 2023. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador H.E. Mr Saqer ALMOQBEL (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).

2.       The Chair opened the meeting by highlighting Members' constructive spirit and positive engagement during the first dedicated discussion on TPR reports held on 12 June 2023. The Chair said that, based on Members' many valuable and thoughtful suggestions, he had reworked the draft conclusions contained in paragraph 2.10 of the revised informal Chair Note of 26 May 2023. The Secretariat displayed the Chair's reworked draft conclusions on a screen during the meeting for Members' consideration.

3.       The Chair further noted that, in reworking the draft conclusions, he had sought to make them more focused while keeping them sufficiently broad to allow for flexibility and adaptability to changing circumstances. The Chair added that specific examples mentioned by Members (including examples of new and emerging issues suggested for inclusion in the Secretariat report) would appear in the relevant descriptive part of the Chair Note, rather than the conclusions.

4.       Members welcomed the Chair's reworked text and said that it accurately reflected the state of Members' discussions on TPR reports. Noting that Members had consistently highlighted the need for shorter and more focused Secretariat reports since the start of the Seventh Appraisal, one Member suggested to strengthen the text in the conclusion inviting the Secretariat to produce shorter and more focused reports. In response, one Member said that the qualifier "to the extent possible" contained in the Chair's reworked text was needed as the Secretariat was simultaneously being encouraged to shorten its reports and cover additional issues.

5.       One Member commented on the Secretariat's use of so-called "non-official" sources in its report and invited the Secretariat to use such sources with caution. Another Member said it was important to preserve the independence in the Secretariat's TPR reporting function and avoid any constraints on the Secretariat's ability to make considered decisions on the use of sources.

6.       Several Members said that the Secretariat report could play an important role in providing a horizontal view of each Member's WTO notification record. Noting that TPRs could support Members' adherence to notification commitments, while also recalling that the TPR exercise was not intended to serve as a basis for the enforcement of specific WTO obligations or to impose new policy commitments on Members, several Members welcomed the reference in the Chair's reworked third conclusion to "a qualified assessment of submitted and outstanding notifications" in the Secretariat report. One Member commented that notifications should not be a focus of the Secretariat report as they were already considered in specific WTO bodies and said that its authorities were still evaluating the Chair's reworked text on this issue.

7.       Several Members referred to the synergies between TPRs and WTO technical assistance. It was noted that the TPR process offered a good opportunity to connect capital-based trade officials with WTO Secretariat experts to facilitate the preparation and submission of notifications, including in the run up to a TPR. In this vein, one Member encouraged the Secretariat to incorporate into its report the views of the Member under review regarding the benefits of WTO technical assistance received, possible improvements to make such assistance more effective, and areas of further need, and suggested a specific amendment to the Chair's draft text on this issue. Several Members supported the proposed text. One Member said that the views of the Member under review on WTO technical assistance received in the Secretariat report should be accompanied by relevant factual information compiled by the Secretariat.

8.       Other points raised by Members regarding the Secretariat report and related issues included: (i) the Secretariat should be encouraged to coordinate closely with the Member under review so that as many issues as possible can be resolved through virtual meetings in advance of the Secretariat's visit to capital, and so that in-person meetings with capital-based officials could be more efficient and effective; (ii) the section on "trade policies by measure" (Section 3) is the core of the Secretariat report and the Secretariat should therefore be encouraged to shorten other sections of its report, including by moving the description of the institutional framework in Section 2 to an annex or online profile, and by focusing Section 1 (Economic Environment) on trade-related issues; (iii) ensuring consistency across Secretariat reports is a top priority for many Members; and (iv) the Secretariat should be encouraged to give attention in its report to new and emerging trade policy areas, including industrial support, trade-related environmental issues and supply chain issues.

9.       Members broadly supported the Chair's suggestion to include a reference to the Government report in the descriptive part of the Chair Note rather than the conclusions.

10.    Some Members underscored that they consider both the conclusions and the descriptive part of the Chair Note, once finalized, as outcomes of the Seventh Appraisal.

11.    The Chair closed the meeting by indicating that the next session on "TPR Reports" would take place on Monday, 10 July 2023 at 3 p.m. in room D. He noted that the descriptive part of the report will be circulated to Members before the third session of this first basket of issues. The Chair's proposed conclusions resulting from this second dedicated session are contained in Table 1 (below).

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Table 1 Compared texts of the conclusions on Issue 2 of the revised informal Chair Note

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