Seventh Appraisal of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism

Report on the second Dedicated Session on other issues of 26 June 2023

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

1.       The second dedicated session on "Other Issues" (so-called "Basket 3") – review cycles, meeting structure, follow-up activities for developing countries and LDCs, Trade Monitoring exercise, and date of the next appraisal – was held on 26 June 2023. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador H.E. Mr Saqer ALMOQBEL (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).

2.       The Chair opened the meeting by indicating that the meeting would focus on two of the five issues under Basket 3, namely meeting structure and trade monitoring. He also highlighted Members' constructive spirit and positive engagement during the first dedicated discussion on "Other Issues" held on 15 June 2023. The Chair said that as proposed by Members in that meeting, and based on Members' valuable and thoughtful suggestions, he had reworked the draft conclusions contained in the revised informal Chair Note of 26 May 2023, bearing in mind that the descriptive part would be discussed later on, prior to the final meeting of this third basket of issues. The Secretariat displayed the Chair's reworked draft conclusions on a screen during the meeting for Members' consideration under the two issues.

3.       Regarding meting structure, Members discussed three draft revised conclusions: (i) adding value to the Review meeting through a more interactive exchange with the Member under review; (ii) having the possible participation of an external discussant and stakeholders in TPR meetings; and (iii) the TPRB as the natural forum to share information in times of global crisis.

4.       Members continued exchanging ideas on ways to reinvigorate TPR meeting, especially on the second meeting day. One delegation indicated that all formal exchanges could take place during the first meeting day, complemented by a half-day informal interactive part, either on the day immediately following the first meeting day or on the day after that. Some Members supported this idea. Other delegations indicated that while it is desirable to make TPR meetings more interactive and less formal, the current meeting arrangements should be maintained, including the gap between the first and second meeting days to allow the Member under review to respond to questions and comments received during the first meeting day. One Member said his delegation was open to make TPR meetings more interactive but noted that this should be done on an informal and voluntary basis.

5.       One Member proposed having an annual TPRB meeting at the end of the year to take stock of the TPR process, including to discuss technical assistance where relevant. Some delegations asked for clarification about the purpose of such a meeting.

6.       A few Members proposed to introduce an indicative cap on the number of written questions received by Members, and said that such an indicative cap, along with the possibility to hold  informal interactive sessions with the Member under review, would help to restore the balance in TPR meetings between an interactive discussion on the one hand and the exchange of questions and answers in written form on the other. It was noted that an indicative cap of 75 questions would only impact four Members. Other delegations stated that they are still considering the proposed indicative cap as part of a reform package with interactive sessions.