Commonwealth Secretariat
  1. Law Home
  2. Criminal Law
    1. Commonwealth Network of Contact Persons
  3. Economic and Legal Advice
    1. Projects
  4. Environment Law
    1. Commonwealth Countries Environment Laws
  5. Justice
  6. Law Development
    1. Legal Debt Clinic
    2. Law Bulletin
  7. News Archive
  8. Meetings
  9. Documents
    1. Commonwealth Legal Assistance News (CLAN)
    2. LAWD
    3. Reports
    4. Commonwealth Countries Environment Laws
  10. Contact Us
  11. Links

Tonga – Legislative Compliance with WTO Agreements

Technical assistance is being provided to the Government of Tonga, on, inter alia, legislative compliance with WTO Agreements in the context of its accession process to the WTO. The overall objective of this project is to facilitate the successful integration of the Kingdom of Tonga into the multilateral trading system in a manner conducive to its economic growth and development on a sustainable basis. The immediate objective is to assist the Government of Tonga in the review of its trade-related legislation vis-à-vis the WTO Agreements, with the aim of effecting necessary amendments to meet WTO requirements in specific trade-related areas identified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tonga.

The legislative review will focus on four (4) key areas: sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT), intellectual property rights (IPRs) and customs valuation. Key deliverables include: a report on the assessment of domestic legislation and regulations as against the relevant WTO Agreements, proposing amendments, as necessary; and implementation of agreed-on recommendations on the basis of a legislative action plan. The project will consolidate and build upon certain reforms already enacted in response to issues raised by WTO Members in the Working Party on the Accession of the Kingdom of Tonga.