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PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/280

TRADE POLICY REVIEW:

Trade regime remains open but some barriers persist

The outward-looking orientation of Canada’s trade regime has facilitated the economy’s successful adjustment to a number of external shocks, and helps explain Canada’s good economic performance during the last four years, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Canada.

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The report notes, however, that productivity growth has been relatively slow, significant trade barriers still protect certain agricultural activities, and foreign investment restrictions remain in some areas such as telecommunications, audiovisual, and air transport.

The report stresses that reform in these sectors could lower costs to Canadian taxpayers and consumers while increasing productivity and competition in the domestic market.

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, 131KB)
  > Economic environment (10 pages, 349KB)
  > Trade policy regime: framework and objectives (14 pages, 148KB)
  > Trade policies and practices by measure (62 pages, 757KB)
  > Trade policies by sector (52 pages, 469KB)
  > Appendix tables (35 pages, 1681KB)
  > Corrigendum (1 page, 59KB)
    
• Government report (34 pages, 251KB)
    

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

Macao, China: 30 April and 2 May 2007
Costa Rica: 7 and 9 May 2007
India: 23 and 25 May 2007

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