Is your country a member of the WTO or is it currently negotiating its accession?

Is your country a participant of the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) or seeking to adhere to it? If your country is a participant of the ITA, is your country among those members that concluded an expansion of the ITA at the December 2015 Nairobi Ministerial Conference? 

Is your country a participant in the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) or does it have the formal status of observer of the GPA, seeking to adhere to it? 

Provided your country has already ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), what is your country’s status with regard to implementation of specific TFA provisions? Are there any for which your country has notified the WTO that it will implement only after a transition period?

What are the benefits and disadvantages that you expect to flow from the TFA for businesses from your country?

Please provide a brief description of the customs duty structure maintained by your country. To what extent is it similar to, or has it been influenced by, that of your main trading partners?

Does your country maintain an import licensing regime?

Please explain the export control regime in place in your jurisdiction, including whether it applies to dual-use items.

Has your country ever renegotiated its scheduled concessions under GATT article XXVIII? If so, could you please provide details?

Has your country been involved in any WTO disputes either as a complainant, defendant or third party? Please highlight the most prominent instances of such participation.

How would you evaluate the compliance record of your country with WTO dispute settlement reports? To the extent that you identify a track record of delayed or incomplete implementation, what are the main factors explaining this feature?

Are you aware of any ongoing or planned revisions of the rules on anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duty investigations in your jurisdiction?

Do you anticipate any forthcoming legal action before the WTO involving your country as a defendant or complainant with respect to one or more of the three types of trade remedies?

What are the main agricultural subsidies maintained by your country? Are they being phased out?

Which are the bilateral trade agreements your country is currently a party to or which it is in the process of negotiating?

To what extent do you expect that Brexit will affect trade between your country and the United Kingdom and the European Union? Is your country negotiating or planning to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the UK?

Is your country party to any regional trade agreements or in the process of negotiating its accession to one?

If your country is a signatory to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), has your country ratified, and, if not, when do you expect it to do so?

What are the benefits and disadvantages that you expect to flow from the future entry into force of the CPTPP for businesses from your country? 

If your country is not a member of the CPTPP, do you expect any trade currently enjoyed by your industries to be negatively impacted by increased trade in those products among members of the CPTPP?

Does your jurisdiction benefit from the Generalised System of Preferences maintained by the European Union and the United States and other developed economies? Does your jurisdiction maintain a similar system with respect to third countries?

How has the bilateral trading relationship between your country and the United States been affected during the first three years of the Trump administration in the United States? Which sectors have been particularly affected and why?

To what extent has your country been affected by the United States’ decision, in March 2018, to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium? Has your country negotiated with the US government to obtain an exemption from the tariffs or to implement a quota on exports? In reaction to the US tariffs, has your country imposed any retaliatory tariffs against imports from the United States?

What is the position of your country as well as that of businesses from your country on the long-standing debate on currency manipulation? Are you aware of any legislative proposals in your country similar to those recently concluded in the US that would allow the investigating authority to take into account the devaluation of a foreign currency in anti-subsidy investigations to address the issue via unilateral trade remedies? Do you believe that this is an issue the WTO should become more actively engaged in?

How are trademarks and geographical indications protected in your jurisdiction? What are the main steps for registration of trademarks and geographical indications? Has the protection of trademarks and geographical indications in your jurisdiction changed since the WTO came into being?

How are other intellectual property rights enforced in your jurisdiction?

Has your country ever imposed restrictions on trade in services or trade in goods due to balance-of-payments and external financial difficulties? Please explain the related provisions under domestic law.

What effect in very general terms is the covid-19 pandemic likely to have in this practice area in your jurisdiction in the medium term, specifically regarding sectoral impacts; trade levels with major trading partners; restrictions on exportation/importation of PPE, pharmaceuticals and other goods and commodities; and the availability of short- and medium-term export credit insurance?