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PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/252
 5 and 7 October 2005

TRADE POLICY REVIEW: TUNISIA

Trade regime in need of further liberalization

The macroeconomic reforms introduced by Tunisia since the mid-80s have contributed to its good recent economic performance that has reduced poverty and contained inflation and the budget deficit, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the Trade Policies and practices of Tunisia.

See also:
> More on Tunisia
> Press release: The WTO encourages Tunisia to continue its reforms

But the reforms have not substantially liberalized trade, according to the report, and the strategy to promote exports, while heavily protecting enterprises that supply the local market, has created a dualism within the economy, between an export sector, strongly supported, and a domestic sector that is still heavily protected.

Tunisia’s trade regime remains generally protectionist. Its participation in different preferential trade agreements further complicates the regime. The report notes that the simplification of the tariff structure, including the reduction of the rates, should enable Tunisia to adhere more closely to the principles of the WTO. Such reforms, together with further improvement of Tunisia's tariff binding commitments, should make its trade regime more transparent and predictable.

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 (10 pages, 171KB)
  > Economic environment (11 pages, 305KB)
  > Trade and investment regimes (12 pages, 159KB)
  > Trade policies and practices by measure (46 pages, 1372KB)
  > Analysis of trade policy and practice, by sector (39 pages, 576KB)
  > Appendix tables (16 pages, 1023KB)
    
• Government report (20 pages, 143KB)
    
• Revisions of the above documents may be issued approximately 2 weeks after the meeting.
    
• Chairperson's concluding remarks
    
• Minutes of the meeting are available approximately 6 weeks after the meeting.
    
• Questions and answers by WTO Members 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

Guinea: 12 and 14 October 2005
Bolivia: 1 and 3 November 2005
Romania: 28 and 30 November 2005