 PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL
1500 GENEVA TIME ( 1300 GMT) 4 APRIL 2003
PRESS/TPRB/212
4 April 2003
(03-1949)
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: BURUNDI
Reforms have contributed to first signs of economic recovery
A report on the trade policies and practices of Burundi, released April 4 by the WTO Secretariat,says that the reforms undertaken since 2000 have in all likelihood contributed to the first signs of
economic recovery, following a long period of economic decline caused by internal strife.
While acknowledging that a return to peace is a fundamental condition for Burundi's development,
the report also highlights tariff reform and the reduction of state intervention in the economy as
crucial to achieving sustained growth and the reduction of poverty.
The WTO report, along with the policy statement of the Government of Burundi, will serve as a
basis for the first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Burundi by the Trade Policy Review Body of theWTO on 2 and 4 April 2003.
The following documents are available in MS Word format on the WTO web-site. They can be
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp212e.htm
• Secretariat report
> Contents and summary observations
> Economic environment
> Trade policy regime: framework and objectives> Trade policies and practices by measure
> Trade policies by sector
> Appendix tables
• Government report
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks
• Minutes of the meeting (available approximately six weeks after the meeting).
Note
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member
countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant
developments that may have an impact on the gl obal trading system are also monitored. For each
review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member underreview, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documentsPRESS/TPRB/212
Page 2 of 2
are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are publishe d shortly afterwards.
Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly
Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States
Next reviews:
Southern African Customs Union (SACU) : 23, 25 April 2003
New Zealand : 12, 14 May 2003
Morocco : 16, 18 June 2003
For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tpr_e.htm#reviews
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews
END