Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-1§3 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Sectors |
Non-monetary support |
Services |
Relevant information
|
1.3. (...) Construction's GDP share was on an upward trend, reflecting significant public (including donor-funded) spending on infrastructure and on post-tropical cyclone reconstruction. (...)
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-1§5 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
General environmental reference |
All products/economic activities |
Relevant information
|
1.5. (...) Accordingly, Tonga continues to face significant sustainability risks, given its economy's vulnerability to natural disasters and global shocks and its debt portfolio's exposure to exchange rate movements.
|
Keywords
|
Natural disaster
Sustainable
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-1§9 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
General environmental reference |
All products/economic activities |
Relevant information
|
1.9. (...) Tonga's weak competitiveness and large import needs, coupled with the prospects of lower remittances inflows and heavy debt repayments, are likely to widen current account deficits and reduce reserve coverage to between three and four months of imports by 2023, well below the desirable buffer (about seven months of imports) for countries prone to natural disasters. (...)
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-2§8 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
General environmental reference |
All products/economic activities |
Relevant information
|
2.8. (...) The Tonga National Trade Negotiation Committee (TNTNC), is chaired by the Minister of Trade and Economic Development and co-chaired by the Minister of Revenue and Customs; originally its membership also comprises the CEOs of the Ministries of Agriculture, Food, Forests and Fisheries (MAFFF); Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Communication and Climate Change (MEIDECC); Revenue and Customs; Internal Affairs; and Finance and National Planning.
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-2§12 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
General environmental reference |
Not specified |
Relevant information
|
2.12. Tonga is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) that remains dependent on trade to meet its needs for the wide range of modern capital and consumer goods required for building its economy and reaching its sustainable development goals. (...)
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-2§13 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
General environmental reference |
Not specified |
Relevant information
|
2.13. The [Tonga Strategic Development Framework] TSDF 2015-2025 recognizes that progressive, sustainable, and inclusive development and higher quality of life are not possible in isolation from the rest of the Pacific and the world. Access to new knowledge, progressive ideas, trade, and employment opportunities, as well as foreign investment and development assistance, that are accessible to all are essential. (...).
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-2§22 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
Other measures |
Not specified |
Relevant information
|
2.22. (...) Tonga fully supports the WTO Work Programme on Small Economies and would like Members to adopt specific measures to facilitate fuller and more meaningful integration of these economies into the multilateral trading system in accordance with their level of development. It also expects the issues of concern with which they are continuously faced, such as vulnerability to climate change (e.g. natural disasters, sea level rise, and floods), to be reflected.
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-2§34 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
Other measures |
Services |
Relevant information
|
2.34. The integration of trade in services into the [Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement] PICTA was endorsed in principle in 2001. Liberalization is designed to be gradual and flexible, with transitional periods agreed as appropriate. After seven rounds of negotiations, the PICTA Trade in Services (TiS) Protocol was endorsed and opened for signature on 28 August 2012. (...) The Protocol covers 11 services sectors: business, communication, construction, distribution, educational, environmental, financial, health, tourism, recreational, and transport. Tonga signed the Protocol, and since the previous Review its ratification remains a priority as significant benefits from increased intra-regional trade in services are foreseen.(...)
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-2§46 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
Investment measures |
Other |
Relevant information
|
2.46. During the review period, the lists of prohibited, restricted, and reserved activities remained unchanged, but the Foreign Investment Regulations may bring changes to these lists (Section 2.4.1). Schedule 1 of the Business Licences Act (Revised Edition 2016), incorporating the Business Licences (Amendment) Act 2012 (Act No. 21 of 2012), lists some prohibited business activities, i.e. activities that are closed to domestic and foreign investors alike (Section 3 of the Act). [42]
[42] These activities are: storage, disposal, or transport of nuclear or toxic waste; (...) processing or export of endangered species
|
Keywords
|
|
|
Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/409/REV.1 |
S-Table-2.3 |
Tonga |
2021 |
Trade Policy Framework |
Other environmental requirements |
Other |
Relevant information
|
Table 2.3 Business activities requiring the fulfilment of additional conditions
Activity: Recycling operators
Additional requirement: Letter of approval from the Waste Authority
|
Keywords
|
|
|