RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/TPR/W/4
8May1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1173)
Trade Policy Review Body
DRAFT RULES OFPROCEDURE FOR MEETINGS OF
THE TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY
Thefollowing draftrulesofprocedure fortheTrade Policy Review Mechanism wereagreed
ininformal consultations conducted bytheChairman oftheTrade Policy Review Body andareproposed
forapproval bytheBody atitsmeeting on6June1995.
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1. When theGeneral Council convenes astheTrade Policy Review Body (TPRB), itshallfollow
therules ofprocedure oftheGeneral Council, except assetoutbelow.1
Chapter I-Meetings
2. TheTPRB shallmeet, asappropriate, toconduct Trade Policy Reviews ofMembers, including
theEuropean Communities considered asonetrading entity, andtheAnnual Overview ofDevelopments
intheInternational Trading Environment.
3. Thecycle ofreviews provided forinParagraph C(ii)oftheAgreement ontheTrade Policy
Review Mechanism (TPRM)2shallbeapplied withageneral flexibility ofuptosixmonths, ifand
asmaybenecessary. Schedules ofsubsequent reviews shallbeestablished counting from thedate
oftheprevious review meeting. Members should adhere strictly tothetimetables forthepreparation
ofreviews, onceagreed.
Chapter II-Agenda
4. Theconvening notice containing theproposed agenda foreachreview meeting oftheTPRB
shallbecirculated toallMembers notlaterthanfourweeks before therelevant meeting. Matters to
beraised under "Other Business" shallbecommunicated totheChairperson ortheSecretariat notless
thantencalendar daysbefore therelevant meeting.
1These additional rules incorporate allrelevant elements oftheCommunication from theChairman ofthe
GATT 1947 Council onProcedures forReview Meetings, dated 30April 1993 (L/7208) andtheGATT 1947
Council Decision onArrangements fortheContinued Operation oftheTPRM, adopted on10May1994 (L/7458).
2Annex 3totheMarrakesh Agreement establishing theWorld Trade Organization.WT/TPR/W/4
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Chapter V-Officers
5. TheTPRB shallelectitsownChairperson fromamong therepresentatives ofMembers. The
TPRB mayalsoelectaVice-Chairperson. Theelection shalltakeplace atthefirstmeeting oftheyear
andshalltakeeffect attheendofthemeeting. TheChairperson andtheVice-Chairperson shallhold
office untiltheendofthefirstmeeting ofthefollowing year.
6. IftheChairpersonisabsentfromanymeetingorpartthereof,theVice-Chairpersonshallperform
thefunctions oftheChairperson. IfaVice-Chairperson wasnotelected, theChairperson oftheGeneral
Council orinthelatter'sabsence, theChairperson oftheDispute Settlement Body shallperform the
functions oftheChairperson. IftheChairpersons oftheGeneral Council andoftheDispute Settlement
Body arealsoabsent, theTPRB shallelectaninterim Chairperson forthemeeting orthatpartofthe
meeting.
7. IftheChairperson andtheVice-Chairperson cannolonger perform thefunctions oftheoffice,
theTPRB shalldesignate aChairperson inaccordance withparagraph 6toperform those functions
pending theelection ofanewChairperson.
Chapter VI-Conduct ofBusiness
8. TheTPRB shalladopt aprogramme ofreviews foreachyear, asreferred toinSection C(iv)
oftheAgreement ontheTPRM, bythemiddle oftheprevious calendar year.
9. There shallbenorequirement ofaquorum fortheTPRB toconduct trade policy reviews.
10. Documentation relating toeachreview meeting shallbecirculated inallworking languages
notlessthanfourweeks inadvance oftherelevant meetings. Reports byMembers under review shall
beintheformofpolicy statements, whose formandlength isessentially tobedetermined bytheMember
under review. Secretariat reports should focus principally onthetrade policies andpractices ofthe
Member under review, seen, totheextent necessary, inthecontext ofoverall macro-economic and
structural policies.
11. Where possible, Members shallsubmit written questions totheMember under review atleast
oneweek before thereview meeting, toallow timetoprepare replies.
12. Discussants chosen pursuant toParagraph C(iv)oftheAgreement ontheTPRM shallcirculate
toMembers outlines ofthemain points theyintend toraiseinareview meeting, atleastoneweek
before thatmeeting. Their fullstatements, which should bedesigned toprovide specific themes for
discussion, should begiven totheMember under review shortly before themeeting.
13. Initial remarks byMembers under review should belimited to15minutes andshould provide
anoverview ofpolicies, noting anynewdevelopments since thecompletion oftheSecretariat and
Government reports. Discussants 'statements should notexceed inlength thatbythemember under
review. Statements from thefloor should notexceed seven minutes.
14. Replies bytheMember under review, which should becomprehensive, should bestructured
according tothemainthemes identified inconsultation withtheChairperson, discussants andSecretariat.
Time willbegiven fordiscussion bydiscussants andTPRB members ofeachtheme. Where possible,WT/TPR/W/4
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replies bytheMember under review should bedistributed inwriting. Where replies cannot bedelivered
during themeeting, supplementary written answers should becirculated notlaterthanonemonth
thereafter.
Chapter IX-Records
15. Reports bytheMember under review andbytheSecretariat, andtheannual report bythe
Director-General ontheoverview ofdevelopments intheinternational trading environment, shallbe
derestricted immediately ontheexpiry oftherelevant press embargo.
16. Minutes ofmeetings heldtoconduct trade policy reviews andoverviews ofdevelopments in
theinternational trading environment shallbeissued asunrestricted documents.