Guyana quizzed on oil and gas sector, local content law at WTO review  

Guyana last week concluded a two-day presentation of reports and responses to questions posed in the context of its Fourth Trade Policy Review (TPR) by the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Secretariat.

Guyana’s delegation was led by Deodat Indar, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works. The questions were posed by 19 WTO Members, and comments were made by the ACP, CARICOM, OECS, and African Groups in Geneva.

These questions related to the oil and gas sector, the Local Content legislation, Low-Carbon Development Strategy, Services Sector, mainstreaming Gender in trade, Natural resources Fund and notification obligations to the WTO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a release. According to the release, Guyana was commended for the indepth information that it provided regarding its new oil and gas industry, local content legislation, and future trade policy plans.

The ministry’s release said too that Guyana was encouraged to continue its participation in the ongoing negotiations at the WTO, on matters related to Investment Facilitation, Trade and Environment and the Joint Statement Initiative. “Members States commended Guyana’s efforts thus far on facilitating a business-friendly regulatory and investment environment and urged the continuation of this pursuit. In formally concluding the Trade Policy Review, Guyana is now expected to provide written answers within a stipulated time frame to the almost 200 additional questions received so far,” the release added.

The TPR is an integral part of the multilateral trading system in the WTO and is administered under the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). Under the TPRM, trade polices of all Members are subject to a periodic review. Under the Rules of the WTO TPRM, Guyana is required to undergo a review every six years. Guyana’s previous reviews were done in 2003, 2009 and 2015. The TPRM is one of the main channels used by the WTO to promote accountability, predictability and transparency – the core values of the multilateral trading system.