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PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/243
9 and 11 February 2005

TRADE POLICY REVIEW: SIERRA LEONE

Reconstruction efforts to be based on sound policy making

Since the end of civil unrest in 2002 and the return to a democratically elected Government, Sierra Leone, the poorest country in the world, has made intensive efforts to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for coherent and sound policy-making and to promote export and market diversification with the result of vibrant growth in the economy, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of Sierra Leone published by the WTO Secretariat.

Sierra Leone depends heavily on exports of diamonds, its dominant activity accounting for more than 90% of total exports, and has joined the Kimberley process of mandatory certificate-of-origin requirements that has contributed to the considerable growth of registered diamonds trade and the resulting fiscal revenue rise.

In 2003 Sierra Leone was the first WTO Member to benefit from a new facility, the Trade Policy Clinics, to contribute to improving transparency in domestic policies at national and multilateral level; in November 2004 it was included in the Integrated Framework process. In 2005 the country will continue receiving technical assistance through different programmes, workshops or seminars on a number of issues, including negotiating techniques and meetings to promote awareness among parliamentarians, in an effort to promote the country’s better integration in the multilateral trading system.

The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government, will be the basis for the Trade Policy Review (TPR) by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO.

The following documents are available in MS Word format.

• Secretariat report
  > Contents and summary observations (12 pages, 103KB)
  > Economic environment (15 pages, 291KB)
  > Trade and investment regimes (16 pages, 186KB)
  > Trade policies and practices by measure (25 pages, 332KB)
  > Trade policies by sector (24 pages, 188KB)
  > Appendix tables (6 pages, 239KB)
    
• Government report (23 pages, 251KB)
    
• Chairperson's concluding remarks
    
• Minutes of the meeting are available approximately 6 weeks after the meeting.
    

Note  back to top

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 global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents 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 published shortly afterwards.

Print copies of previous 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.

The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.

Schedule of forthcoming reviews  back to top

Qatar: 21 and 23 February 2005
Mongolia: 15 and 17 March 2005
Paraguay: 27 and 29 April 2005