Notification requirements

Trade Policy Review Mechanism

This section of the Handbook on Notification Requirements covers the notification obligations under the TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM. It consists of the following five parts:

For Members which acceded pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement, their respective Protocols of Accession may contain notification obligations in addition to those set out in the WTO Agreements, and may govern the deadlines for the submission of their initial notifications.

PART 1 | OVERVIEW OF NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

WHAT MUST BE NOTIFIED?

The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) itself can be considered as a comprehensive "notification" and transparency exercise, as it periodically provides information on the entire range of trade and trade-related measures and practices in use by Members.

Annex 3 of the Marrakech Agreement (Trade Policy Review Mechanism), and in particular its Part D (Reporting) states that "each Member shall report regularly to the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB)". This "reporting" takes different forms:

Full Reports shall describe the trade policies and practices pursued by the Member or Members concerned;
Brief Reports shall be provided by Members between reviews, when there are any significant changes in their trade policies; and
Annual Update of Statistical Information shall also be provided.

While no formal notification has ever been made to date, Members provide data and information required for the preparation of the TPR reports by the WTO Secretariat. The Members under review also prepare the so-called Government report which, in practice, is viewed as a trade policy statement. Both reports (by the Secretariat and the country under review) form the basis for the periodic reviews of Members' trade policies and practices under the TPRM.

The Secretariat makes also its contribution through the Annual Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environment which are having an impact on the multilateral trading system. In this context, a Trade Monitoring process was launched in 2009 by the Director-General and has been endorsed by the Members on several occasions. Though Trade Monitoring does not create notification obligations for the Members, it calls on their active cooperation with the Secretariat, including through the provision of brief reports on significant changes in their trade policies, as well as in the context of collection and verification of information.

WHICH MEMBERS MUST NOTIFY?

Each WTO Member is subject to periodic reviews, in conformity with the periodicity established under the TPRM; and is also to provide brief reports on significant changes in its trade policies, as well as an annual update of statistical information (see below: "When to notify?").

WHEN TO NOTIFY?

The review cycle is set as follows: the first 4 trading entities shall be subject to review every 3 years, the next 16 shall be reviewed every 5 years, other Members shall be reviewed every 7 years, except that a longer period may be fixed for LDC Members.

Significant changes in trade policies of Members are to be provided as they occur.

Statistical information is to be provided by Members on an annual basis.

The Trade Monitoring exercise is conducted on a semi-annual basis.

HOW TO NOTIFY?

Annex 3 (on the TPRM) of the Marrakech Agreement and the results of the periodical appraisals of the Mechanism provide guidelines for collection of the information contained in the report by the Secretariat. Such information may be collected by means of questionnaires sent by the Secretariat to the Member under review; from notifications submitted by the Member under a relevant WTO Agreement; or through research undertaken by the Secretariat. The information contained in the report is checked with the Member under review: the draft report is submitted to the Member for comments prior to a visit by a team of the Secretariat to the capital of the Member and also reviewed with the national experts during such a visit. Drawn up by the Secretariat on its own responsibility, the report presents the analysis of the trade policy and practices of the Member under review.

The report by the Secretariat is complemented by the report by the Member under review (the Government report). With the view to avoiding duplication, the report by the country under review is rather considered as a policy statement, i.e. expected to be forward looking.¹

Between reviews, Members shall provide brief reports on significant changes in their trade policies. The format of such reports has not yet been set.

Annual updates of statistical information shall also be provided. It was anticipated that such updates would be provided according to an agreed format and it was also foreseen that the TPRB would elaborate rules for this notification requirement. To date, no agreed format has been decided upon, and no specific requirements have been approved. In practice, statistical information is provided in the context of the Members' submissions to the Integrated Data Base (IDB) (See the section of the Handbook on Notification related to Integrated Data Base).

More details and references are contained in the next section below (Part 2).

PART 2 | LISTING OF THE NOTIFICATION OBLIGATIONS

	WHAT MUST BE NOTIFIED?		WHICH MEMBERS MUST NOTIFY?	WHEN TO NOTIFY?		HOW TO NOTIFY?
	Notification requirements²	Type of measure	Members notifying	Periodicity	Comments on Periodicity	Format	To whom	Notification Symbol
1.	Annex 3 to the Marrakech Agreement; Section D of Annex 3 on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism.	All trade policy measures and practices implemented or contemplated by the Member under review (or Members in the case of a joint review).	Member(s) under review	Regular	The review cycle (every three, five or seven years) is based on the Member's share of global trade. The first 4 trading entities are subject to review every 3 years, the next 16 are reviewed every 5 years, other Members are reviewed every 7 years, except that a longer period may be fixed for LDC Members.	No (No format has been set. However, in practice, the Secretariat report follows a four- chapter format and each Member under review follows its own format for its Government report.)	Trade Policy Review Body	Reports by Governments are circulated under symbol WT/TPR/G/, and Reports by the Secretariat are circulated under symbol WT/TPR/S/.
2.	Annex 3 to the Marrakech Agreement; Sections D and G of Annex 3 on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism³.	Significant changes in trade policies.	All WTO Members	Ad hoc	As they occur.	No (No format has been set)	Trade Policy Review Body	Trade Monitoring Reports by the Director-General are circulated under symbols WT/TPR/OV/W/* (mid-year reports); and WT/TPR/OV/* (annual reports).
3.	Annex 3 to the Marrakech Agreement; Section D of Annex 3 on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism.	Up-date of statistical information.	All WTO Members	Regular – Annual		No (No format has been set)	Trade Policy Review Body	–

PART 3 | RELEVANT DOCUMENT(S) CONCERNING GUIDELINES AND FORMATS

While there is no set format of notification under the TPRM, some guidelines are given as to how information shall be provided. Indeed, the Government report and the report by the Secretariat are expected to cover all aspects of the trade policies and practices of the Member(s) under review. The TPRB is mandated to decide upon an agreed format for the Government report but has not yet to date reached an agreement on such a format. The format shall initially have been based on the Outline Format for Country Reports established by the (GATT) Council Decision of 19 July 1989 (BISD 36S/406-409). In practice, the reporting requirement is mainly achieved through the report, prepared by the Secretariat, on its own responsibility, but on which clarification is sought from the Member(s) under review; and through the Government Report prepared by the Member(s) under review. To this end and with the view to avoiding duplication, a policy statement by the Member(s) under review is considered enough.

Between reviews, notification of "significant" changes in trade policies is intended to complement the regular reviews by the TPRB.

The annual updates of statistical information shall also be provided according to an agreed format and it is also foreseen that the TPRD also elaborates rules for this notification requirement.

To date, no agreed format has been decided upon, nor, with a few exceptions, have changes in policies or updates of data been provided to the Secretariat (exception through the submission to the IDB). Moreover, there are no formal procedures for such notifications though it was foreseen that the TPRB would initially elaborate rules for this notification requirement.

More details and references are contained in the above section (Part 2).

PART 4 | LIST OF NOTIFICATIONS SINCE 1995

Through the Web page of the WTO Website dedicated to Trade Policy Reviews, a "Search Documents Online" feature offers direct access to TPR-related document, including TPR Reports by the Governments (WT/TPR/G/*) and by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/*).

The Chronological list of TPRs displaces all documents related to Trade Policy Reviews that have taken place since 1995.

Trade Monitoring Reports that have taken place since 2009 are available under the documents series WT/TPR/OV/W/* and additional information related to Trade monitoring is available through the Trade Monitoring Database.

PART 5 | TEXT OF LEGAL PROVISIONS

ON TRADE POLICY REVIEWS

Trade Policy Review Mechanism LT/UR/A-3/TPR/1.

ON TRADE MONITORING

Decision of 17 December 2011 of the Ministerial Conference WT/L/848.

Notes

¹ It had been anticipated that the Outline Format for Country Reports established by the (GATT) Council Decision of 19 July 1989 (BISD 36S/406-409) would initially constitute the basis for such a notification format.

² The amendment adopted by the General Council Decision of 26 July 2017 does not impact provisions on notification.

³ In the context of the implementation of Part G of Annex 3 (on TPRM) to the Marrakech Agreement, which refers to the Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environment, the Secretariat draws on the input from Members (on significant changes to trade policies) to prepare the annual overview by the Director-General, which provides the WTO Membership with selected developments in the international trading environment. The Trade Monitoring Reports by the Director-General have been endorsed by the Members as part of the transparency process.