Egypt Passes 4th WTO Trade Policy Review

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Saturday - 24 February 2018

Egypt managed to pass the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s fourth review of the trade policies and practices of Egypt that took place on February 20-22.

In a statement on Friday 23/02/2018, the Trade and Industry Ministry said that the Egyptian delegation, led by Trade Minister Tareq Qabil, reviewed the development of Egypt's economy over the past 13 years since the 3rd trade review that was held in 2005.

Egypt's success in passing this review reflects the international community's trust in Egypt's trade policies, Qabil said.

During its participation in the meeting, Egypt delivered several messages; the first is Egypt's keenness on providing all its trading partners with all information related to the overall economic reform program that was recently implemented by the Egyptian government.

The second is Egypt's full commitment to the WTO's multilateral trading system , which aims at making the business environment stable and predictable, Qabil said.

The third is that Egypt is well aware of the challenges it still faces to achieve its strategic development goals, the minister added.

The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Egyptian government.

The WTO secretariat and Egypt's government reports are discussed by the WTO's full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB).

The second Trade Policy Review of Egypt was held on June 24-25, 1999 and the third review was held on July 26-28, 2005.

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.

All WTO members are subject to review, with the frequency of review depending on the country's size.