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N° 94 — June/July 2019

Inside this issue: • Accession of Belarus: 12th Working Party

Meeting — 11 July 2019

• Accession Strategic Focus: The Bahamas and

Comoros

• Accession State of Play:

LDC Accessions: Ethiopia

Non-LDC Accessions: Azerbaijan, Iraq, Lebanese Republic and Uzbekistan

• Expression of interest: Turkmenistan

• Technical Assistance and Outreach activities:

The 2nd Forum on WTO Accessions:

Technical Assistance Capacity-Building for Economic Transformation and Sustainable Peacebuilding, 5 July 2019

Trade for Peace through WTO Accessions: Opportunities for the Private Sector, 3 July 2019

Upcoming activities

• SPECIAL— Post-Accession: 3rd Anniversary of WTO Membership of Liberia and Afghanistan

• WTO Accession Progress Tracker and Evolving

Work Programme

• Accessions Anniversary Dates — Article XII Members — July and August

• Accessions Toolbox

Accessions Newsletter Team:

Maika Oshikawa, Editor-in-chief

Andrei Suse, Editor

Mariam Soumaré, Deputy Editor

Souda Tandara-Stenier, Editorial Coordinator, page layout design, photographer

with contributions from Accessions Division staff

Accessions Strategic Objectives

Domestic reform instrument

Systemic update

Market access expansion

International cooperation for trade

Accession of Belarus: 12th Working Party Meeting, 11 July 2019

Belarus: The 12th Meeting of the Working Party was chaired by Ambassador Kemal Madenoğlu (Turkey). This was the fifth meeting since the resumption of the Working Party in January 2017. First Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Turchin led Belarus' delegation, which comprised 37 officials, including Minister of Economy Dmitry Krutoy, Minister of Finance Maksim Yermalovich, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich, as well as six Deputy Ministers and the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the National Bank. The Working Party meeting was preceded by a plurilateral meeting on agriculture, on 10 July, which reviewed Belarus' agriculture Supporting Tables for 2011-2013.

In his opening statement to the Working Party, the First Deputy Prime Minister reconfirmed Belarus' strong commitment to conclude accession negotiations by the 12th WTO Ministerial

Conference (MC12) in June 2020. He reported on ongoing work on pricing policies, import/export procedures, the protection of clinical research data, currency regulation, the establishment of foreign branches, and the harmonization of legislation within the Eurasian Economic Union. He also noted that Belarus' participation in the Joint Initiatives on E-Commerce, Investment Facilitation, MSMEs and Women Empowerment reflected the priorities set by his Government for Belarus' future WTO membership.

27 Members expressed support for Belarus' accession, many of which explicitly supported the finalization of negotiations by MC12. However, some Members cautioned that in order to meet this ambitious target Belarus would urgently need to make progress on domestic reforms and stressed that key substantive issues still needed to be addressed.

Concerning bilateral market access negotiations, Belarus reported that it was close to completing negotiations with four Members and expressed hope to conclude most outstanding negotiations by the end of the year.

Regarding the draft Report of the Working Party, Belarus indicated its readiness to unbracket more than 70% of the over 100 draft commitment paragraphs. Discussions covered virtually all sections of the draft Report. Three paragraphs relating to trade in services were unbracketed.

As for the next steps, Members were invited to submit written questions and comments by 9 August. In addition to replying to Members' questions, Belarus would submit a revised Legislative Action Plan and copies of legislation. The Chairperson suggested that the next meeting of the Working Party could take place before the end of the year.

Accession of Belarus— Meeting between DG Roberto Azevêdo and First Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Turchin

10 July 2019

Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich and Minister of Economy Dmitry Krutoy

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Alla Lomakina and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Andrei Yeudachenka

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The Bahamas: On 20 June, Mr. Wayne McCook, Senior Advisor to the WTO Director General, met with a delegation of the National Congress of Trade Unions of the Bahamas, at their request. The delegation was led by the President of the National Congress of Trade Unions, Mr. Bernard Evans. The meeting allowed for a useful exchange of views on the functions of the WTO and the accession process of The Bahamas.

On 30 June, Mr. Ellsworth Johnson was appointed Minister for Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration following the resignation of Mr. Brent Symonette.

Ambassador Andrew Staines (United Kingdom), Chairperson of the Working Party, and the Secretariat have been in contact with the Bahamas' technical team regarding the preparation of updated negotiating inputs for the next meeting of the Working Party.

Comoros: Following the swearing-in of President Azali Assoumani in late May, a new Government has been formed. Mr. Houmed Msaidié has been appointed to lead the Ministry of Economy, Investments and Energy, which is responsible for WTO accession. Preparation is underway for the next meeting of the Working Party, which is provisionally envisaged to take place in the fourth quarter of the year.

Accession Strategic Focus

Accession of The Bahamas—Meeting between Mr Wayne McCook and Delegation of the National Congress of Trade

Unions of the Bahamas

Ethiopia: The Accessions Director met with Chief Negotiator Mamo Mihretu on the margins of the "AfCFTA Regional Trade Forum – Horn of Africa", held in Addis Ababa, on 26-27 June. Mr. Mihretu informed the Secretariat that a National Steering Committee and a Technical Committee had been officially established by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to resume the WTO accession process. The

National Steering Committee met on 22 June to review documents that would be submitted to the Working Party. These include a revised market access offer for goods, an initial market access offer for services and replies to the questions raised at the last Working Party meeting held in March 2012. Ethiopia targets the fourth quarter of 2019 for the resumption of the Working Party process.

Accession State of Play — LDCs

AfCFTA Regional Trade Forum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 26-27 June 2019

Accession State of Play — Non-LDCs Azerbaijan: A delegation from Baku visited Geneva in the last week of June. The main objective of the visit was to hold bilateral meetings with selected Members on domestic support for agriculture, on the margins of the meeting of the Committee on Agriculture (25-26 June). Moreover, the delegation met with Ambassador Walter Werner, Chairman of the Working Party, and the Secretariat, to provide updates on the technical work being done in the capital.

Iraq: On 25-26 July, the WTO and the World Bank conducted a Joint Workshop on WTO Accession for Iraqi government officials in Beirut, Lebanon. The main objectives of the workshop were to take stock of accession-related developments in Iraq since the Informal Meeting of the Working Party held in November 2017, and to identify the next steps in the process, as well as Iraq's accession-specific technical assistance needs.

The delegation of Iraq, led by Mr. Adel Al Masoodi, Director-General of Foreign Economic Relations Department at the Ministry of Trade, reported on recent trade-related policy and legislative developments in Iraq, as well as on the status of work on outstanding accession documentation, including replies to Members' questions on the Memorandum of the Foreign Trade

Regime circulated in February 2018, market access offers and other negotiating inputs.

On the second day of the workshop, the Iraqi delegation was joined by officials from the Ministry of Economy and Trade of Lebanon and by Mr. Adel Al Ghaberi (UN-ESCWA), who used to be part of Yemen's accession team, for a roundtable discussion on the benefits and challenges of acceding to the WTO.

In terms of next steps, Iraq plans to submit the necessary negotiating inputs during the fourth quarter of 2019, so that the Working Party could formally resume in early 2020. It was also agreed that a High-Level Conference on WTO Accession would be held in Baghdad in November, bringing together relevant domestic stakeholders and international partners supporting Iraq's reconstruction efforts.

Lebanese Republic: On 25 July, the Accessions Director met with Minister of Economy and Trade Mansour Bteish and his trade team in Beirut to exchange views on Lebanon's accession process. Minister Bteish, who was appointed in February 2019, expressed his openness to the accession process, which would take account of the sensitivities of the Lebanese economy. In turn, the Accessions Director expressed the Secretariat's readiness to assist Lebanon in its reactivation efforts, including with the preparation of negotiating inputs.

WTO/World Bank Joint workshop on the Accession of Iraq, in Beirut, Lebanon, 25-26 July 2019

Accession of Lebanon— Meeting with Minister of Economy and Trade, Mansour Bteish, 25-26 July 2019

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Accession State of Play — Non-LDCs (Cont’d)

Uzbekistan: On 4-5 July, Mr. Badriddin Abidov, Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade and Chief Negotiator for Uzbekistan's WTO Accession was in Geneva to attend the Aid for Trade Global Review 2019. In the context of a meeting with the Accessions Division, the Deputy Minister reported on the state of preparation of the accession documentation necessary for the resumption of the Working Party. He reported that the Inter-Agency Commission on WTO Accession and the eight thematic technical working groups established thereunder were meeting on a regular basis to advance the preparation of the documentation. In addition, the Government was undertaking a series of activities aimed at raising awareness about the WTO, including with parliamentarians and private sector representatives.

On 5 July, Deputy Minister Abidov spoke at the 2nd Forum on WTO Accessions (see page 4) and met with international partners that have been providing accession-related technical assistance to Uzbekistan. He expressed appreciation for the support received by Uzbekistan and announced that

the Government was developing a matrix of its accession needs and the support provided, with a view to ensuring effective "match-making".

On 18 July, the Secretariat conducted a National Workshop on the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) in Tashkent. The objective of the training was to familiarize the members of the Inter-Agency Commission on WTO Accession with key concepts and principles of the WTO TBT Agreement. The preparation of a TBT Checklist was also discussed at the workshop.

On 25 July, the Secretariat circulated Uzbekistan's Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR) - an updated version of the 1998 memorandum. This is the first document submitted by the Government of Uzbekistan since the Working Party last met in October 2005. Members were invited to submit questions on the Memorandum by end of August. Uzbekistan plans to submit shortly the annexes to the MFTR and other accession documents with a view to holding the fourth Meeting of the Working Party as soon as possible.

On 2-4 July, a high-level delegation from Ashgabat visited the WTO to attend the Aid for Trade Global Review 2019. The delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy Ezizgeldi Annamuhammedov, and included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, who were accompanied by Ambassador Atageldi Haljanov, Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the United Nations in Geneva.

At his meeting with WTO Deputy Director-General Alan Wm. Wolff, the Deputy Minister conveyed Turkmenistan's interest in applying for WTO Membership. He also invited the WTO to participate in the First Caspian

Economic Forum, scheduled to take place on 12 August, in Avaza, Turkmenistan. He requested that the WTO co-organize with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a national seminar on WTO accession on the margins of the Forum, for members of the Governmental Commission on WTO Accession, which has been tasked with making recommendations on Turkmenistan's application for WTO accession.

The Accessions Division also delivered a presentation to the delegation of Turkmenistan on the WTO accession process, which was followed by an interactive session of questions and answers on various aspects of accession, including the benefits of WTO membership.

Expression of Interest: Turkmenistan

Workshop on TBT, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 18 July 2019

Accession of Uzbekistan— Inter-agency consultation, 5 July 2019

DDG Alan Wolff meeting with delegation from Turkmenistan, 2 July 2019

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Technical Assistance and Outreach Activities

The 2nd Forum on WTO Accessions: "Technical Assistance Capacity-Building for Economic Transformation and Sustainable Peacebuilding", 5 July 2019

The Accessions Division organised the 2nd Forum on WTO Accessions on 5 July, during the Aid for Trade Global Review 2019. Initiated in 2017, the Forum brought together acceding governments, recent Article XII Members, and development partners to discuss the accession-specific technical assistance (TA) needs of acceding governments, as well as available programs, with a view to promoting best practices in the delivery of TA and capacity building.

In his opening remarks, DDG Wolff observed that the accession process itself served as one of the best exercises for capacity building, as the process was essentially about domestic economic reforms. Accession-related technical assistance and capacity building had lasting effects, thus giving real value to the investment made by donors. He illustrated his point by referring to Liberia and Afghanistan, which were both conflict-affected LDCs that used the accession process to overcome domestic challenges.

The Forum featured distinguished speakers from two recently acceded LDCs, including Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Liberia, Mr. Axel Addy, former Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chief Negotiator for Liberia's WTO Accession, and Ambassador Mohammad Haqjo, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the WTO. Liberia and Afghanistan celebrated the 3rd

anniversary of their WTO membership, on 14 July and 29 July, respectively (see the special section on page 5). The speakers from Liberia and Afghanistan were followed by Mr. Baddridin Abidov, Deputy Minister of Investments and Trade and Chief Negotiator for Uzbekistan's WTO accession, who highlighted his Government's effort to use the accession process to pursue economic reforms, as well as the important role played by its development partners in providing technical assistance to Uzbekistan.

The second half of the Forum was devoted to a discussion of the donors' perspective and experiences as providers of technical assistance. The list of speakers included: Ambassador Andrew Staines (UK), Chairman of the Working Party on the Accession of the Bahamas; Mr. Katsuro Nagai (Japan), Chairman of the Working Party on the Accession of Sudan; Mr. Zhen Wang, Deputy Director-General, Department of WTO Affairs, Ministry of Commerce of China; Ms. Sherri-Nouane Duncan-Jones, Senior Development Advisor, USAID; Ms. Anna Hallam, Senior Advisor, Swedish National Board of Trade; Ms. Caroline Freund, Director, Trade, Regional Integration and Investment Climate, World Bank; and Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Chief, Trade Facilitation and Policy for Business, ITC. In sharing the lessons learned from the provision of technical assistance to acceding governments over the years, they emphasized the importance of carrying out deep reforms throughout the accession process and continuing the reforms in the post-accession phase.

"Trade for Peace through WTO Accessions: Opportunities for the Private Sector", 3 July 2019

The Accessions Division, in partnership with the g7+ WTO Accessions Group and the Government of the Netherlands, organised a session on "Trade for Peace through WTO Accessions: Opportunities for the Private Sector" on 3 July, during the Aid for Trade Global Review 2019. The panel was moderated by Ambassador Mohammad Haqjo of Afghanistan, the Coordinator of the g7+ WTO Accessions Group, and comprised five speakers. In their interventions, all speakers highlighted the positive connection between trade and peace.

Ambassador Zenebe Kebede Korcho of Ethiopia observed that the tools for maintaining international peace and security were not limited to political and military engagements but also included rules-based economic cooperation, especially in the context of the multilateral trading system. He added that Ethiopia had "signed and ratified the landmark African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) while reactivating its negotiations to join the WTO, with the aim of using these regional and global

integration processes as a tool to foster trade, to build necessary policy frameworks and to promote peace and security". Mr. Francisco Dionisio Fernandes, from the Mission of Timor-Leste, stressed that a "country that is not connected to the global economy is marginalized and cannot trade", and expressed the view that "[w]ith coherent trade policies, countries can advance human development, by investing in education and vocational training, this way contributing to the eradication of poverty and setting the ground for a lasting peace".

Ambassador Monique Van Daalen of the Netherlands stated that peace, trade, development and prosperity were mutually inclusive. Mr. Daniel Weston, General Counsel and Global Head of Creating Shared Value and Corporate Communications, Nestlé Nespresso SA, spoke about Nespresso's cooperation with South Sudan's coffee farmers, which helped revive the country's coffee sector after having been destroyed by decades of conflict. Finally, Mr. Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark East Africa, emphasized the need to promote mutually beneficial trade in conflict-affected countries.

2nd Forum on WTO Accessions — Moderator and Speakers 5 July 2019

Trade for Peace through WTO Accessions— Mr Francisco Dionisio Fernandes (Timor-Leste) and Ambassador Monique

Van Daalen (The Netherlands) 3 July 2019

2nd Forum on WTO Accessions — 5 July 2019

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Technical Assistance and Outreach Activities (Cont’d)

Upcoming Activities:

The 8th China Round Table: The 8th China Round Table on WTO Accessions will be held on 28-30 October in Moscow, Russian Federation. In preparation for the event, the Accessions Division undertook a mission to Moscow, on 20-21 June, to discuss the programme and organisational aspects. The Round Table will bring together all acceding governments and several Article XII Members from the region to exchange views on WTO accessions. The discussions will be structured around three pillars: (i) contributions of accessions to WTO reform; (ii) implications of regional integration for the multilateral trading system; and (iii) sharing of accession-related experiences. Invitations will be sent out shortly.

The 3rd Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa: The 3rd Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa is scheduled to take place on 3-6 December, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is organized by the Secretariat in partnership with the ITC, the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The theme for the third Regional Dialogue is "Export Diversification through WTO Membership and the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)".

July marked the 3rd Anniversary of WTO membership of Liberia and Afghanistan, which became the 163rd and the 164th Members of the Organisation on 14 July 2016 and 29 July 2016, respectively. The 2nd Forum on WTO Accessions, which took place on 5 July 2019, provided an opportunity to reflect on their experience with the accession process and post-accession, including the opportunities and challenges associated with WTO membership.

Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Liberia, expressed his country's commitment to multilateralism and the principles of the WTO. He outlined a number of reforms that Liberia had implemented or was currently implementing. Minister Tarpeh also announced his Government's plan to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement within the following 60 days.

Mr. Axel Addy, former Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chief Negotiator for Liberia's WTO Accession, added that Liberia acceded to the WTO at a difficult time, after its long civil war. Liberia started the accession process with the intention of signalling to the world that the country was open to business and committed to transforming its economy.

Ambassador Mohammad Haqjo, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the WTO, explained that the accession process proved to be an excellent opportunity for Afghanistan to build institutions, the legal framework and capacity, at a time when the country was coming

out of "war and smoke and dust". In his view, the WTO accession process was one of the best means by which to conduct economic reform, and WTO membership had signalled to investors that Afghanistan's legal framework was based on best practices. At the same time, there were challenges of post-accession implementation, which included the lack of sufficient capacity to implement certain agreements due to their high technical complexity. Nonetheless, he concluded that WTO Membership was the right tool for accelerating economic growth and reforms and stressed the importance of having in place a strategy for preparing and building capacity for WTO membership.

The testimonies of Liberia and Afghanistan on the benefits of WTO membership were in line with statements made by other Article XII Members who participated in various sessions of the Aid for Trade Global Review. For instance, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, stated that as a result of its reform efforts, and especially those required by its WTO commitments, his country had achieved high economic growth, averaging 7.7% over the last two decades. Moreover, the poverty rate had declined from 53.2% in 2004 (the year of Cambodia's accession) to less than 10% in 2018. Similarly, Ms. Nella Tavita Levy, Assistant CEO, Trade Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Samoa, stated that FDI inflows had increased in Samoa as a direct result of the reforms associated with the accession process.

SPECIAL: Post-Accession: 3rd Anniversary of WTO Membership of Liberia and Afghanistan

Ambassador Zenebe Kebede Korcho (Ethiopia), 3 July 2019

Mr Axel Addy, Former Minister of Commerce and Industry and Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, Minister of Commerce and

Industry of Liberia, 3 July 2019

Meeting with Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Liberia, 5 July 2019

Ambassador Mohammad Haqjo (Afghanistan), 3 July 2019

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N° 94 — June/July 2019

WTO Accession Progress Tracker

Working Party Established

(No documents submitted)

• Equatorial Guinea

• Libya

• Sao Tome and

Principe

• Somalia

• Syrian Arab Republic

Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime

(MFTR)

• Andorra

• Iran

• Iraq

• South Sudan

• Timor-Leste

• Uzbekistan

Factual Summary of Points Raised

Draft Working Party Report

• Bahamas

• Ethiopia

• Sudan

• Algeria

• Azerbaijan

• Belarus

• Bhutan

• Bosnia and

Herzegovina

• Comoros

• Lebanese Republic

• Serbia

Initial Goods and Services Offer

• Andorra

• Ethiopia

• Uzbekistan

Revised goods and services offer (Market Access Negotiations)

• Algeria

• Azerbaijan

• Belarus

• Bhutan

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Comoros

• Lebanese Republic

• Serbia

Draft Goods and Services Schedules

Multilateral Process

Bilateral Process

Informal Group on Accessions Meeting — 28 May 2019

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N° 94 — June/July 2019

WTO Accessions 2019 — Evolving Work Programme

Notes: * LDC — AGST (Agricultural Supporting Tables); CVQ (Customs Valuation Questionnaire); DWPR (Draft Working Party Report); FS (Factual Summary of Points Raised); ILQ (Import Licensing Questionnaire); LAP (Legislative Action Plan); LEG (legislation); MA (market access); MFTR (Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime); Q1 (1st quarter); STQ (State Trading Questionnaire); TA (technical assistance); WP (Working Party); WPM (Working Party meeting).

Accession WP WP Establishment Last WP Meeting State of Play Upcoming Activity

1. Algeria (DZA) Chair: H.E. Mr. José Luís CANCELA GÓMEZ (Uruguay)

17 June 1987 14WPM, 31 March 2014

- Preparation of updated inputs (replies, LAP, AGSTs, LEG)

2. Andorra (AND) 22 October 1997 Inactive

3. Azerbaijan (AZE) Chair: H.E. Dr Walter WERNER (Germany)

16 July 1997 14WPM, 28 July 2017

- Preparation of updated inputs (replies, LAP, AGSTs, LEG)

4. The Bahamas (BHS) Chair: H.E. Mr. Andrew STAINES (United Kingdom)

18 July 2001 4WPM, 5 April 2019

- Preparation of updated inputs (replies, EDWPR)

- 5WPM, Q4 2019 (TBC)

5. Belarus (BLR) Chair: H.E. Mr. Kemal MADENOĞLU (Turkey)

27 October 1993 12WPM, 11 July 2019

- Submission of questions by 9 August 2019

- 13WPM, Q4 2019 (TBC)

6. Bhutan* (BTN) Chair: H.E. Dr. Elisabeth TICHY-FISSLBERGER (Austria)

6 October 1999 4WPM, 30 January 2008

No activity since 2008

7. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) Chair: H.E. Mr. Atanas PAPARIZOV (Bulgaria)

15 July 1999 13WPM, 7 February 2018

- Preparation of updated inputs (replies, LAP as well as DWPR)

- Next/final WPM to be held in 2019 (TBC)

8. Comoros* (COM) Chair: H.E. Mr. Luis Enrique CHÁVEZ BASAGOITIA (Peru)

9 October 2007 4WPM, 28 March 2018

- Preparation updated inputs (replies, LAP as well as DWPR)

- Circulation of updated inputs - 5WPM, Q3 2019 (TBC)

9. Equatorial Guinea (GNQ) Chair: Pending

5 February 2008 No WPM held to date

- Preparation of MFTR - Secretariat's TA mission to Malabo (TBC)

10. Ethiopia* (ETH) Chair: H.E. Mr Morten JESPERSEN (Denmark)

10 February 2003 3WPM, 27 March 2012

- Preparation of full range of updated inputs (LAP, LEG, AGST, all questionnaires and checklists, MA offers, as well as FS)

- 4WPM, Q4 2019 (TBC)

11. Iran (IRN) Chair: Pending

26 May 2005 No WPM held to date

- Preparation of updated inputs (MFTR and MA offers)

12. Iraq (IRQ) Chair: H.E. Mr. Omar HILALE (Morocco)

13 December 2004 2WPM, 2 April 2008 and Informal WPM, 17 November 2017

- Updated MFTR circulated in Feb. 2018. - Preparation of full range of updated inputs (replies, LAP, LEG, AGST, checklists and questionnaires, MA offers) - Joint WTO/World Bank TA mission, 25-26 July

- High Level Conference on WTO Accession, Baghdad, November 2019

13. Lebanese Republic (LBN) Chair: Mr. Jean-Paul THUILLIER (France)

14 April 1999 7WPM, 28 October 2009

- Updated inputs (AGST, LAP, LEG, checklists and questionnaires, as well as DWPR) circulated to WP in April-June 2017 - Preparation of updated MA offers

14. Libya (LBY) Chair: Mr. Victor ECHEVARRÍA UGARTE (Spain)

27 July 2004 No WPM held to date

Inactive

15. Sao Tome and Principe* (STP) Chair: Pending

26 May 2005 No WPM held to date

- Preparation of MFTR

16. Serbia (SRB) Chair: H.E. Mrs Marie-Claire SWÄRD CAPRA (Sweden)

15 February 2005 13WPM, 13 June 2013

- Preparation of updated inputs (AGST, LAP, LEG as well as DWPR)

- 14WPM (TBC)

17. Somalia* (SOM) Chair: Pending

7 December 2016 No WPM held to date

- Preparation of MFTR - Circulation of MFTR

18. South Sudan* (SSD) Chair: H.E. Mr. Mohammad Qurban HAQJO (Afghanistan)

13 December 2017 1WPM, 21 March 2019

- Preparation of updated MFTR, as well as other inputs (replies, checklists, LAP, LEG, initial MA offers)

- TA WTO/ITC mission, November 2019 - 2WPM, Q4 2019 (TBC)

19. Sudan* (SDN) Chair: Mr. Katsuro NAGAI (Japan)

25 October 1994 4WPM, 14 July 2017

- Updated inputs circulated (AGSTs, LAP, LEG, as well as FS) circulated in January 2019

- 5WPM in 2019 (TBC)

20. Syrian Arab Republic (SYR) Chair: Pending

4 May 2010 No WPM held to date

Inactive

21. Timor-Leste* (TLS) Chair: H.E. Mr. Rui MACIEIRA (Portugal)

7 December 2016 No WPM held to date

- Preparation of replies on MFTR circulated in July 2017, as well as other inputs (LAP, LEG, initial MA offers)

- Secretariat's TA mission to Dili, 2019 (TBC) - 1WPM, 2019 (TBC)

22. Uzbekistan (UZB) Chair: H.E. Ms PAIK Ji-ah (Republic of Korea)

21 December 1994 3WPM, 14 October 2005

- Circulation of MFTR on 25 July 2019 - Submission of questions by 30 August 2019 - Preparation of a full set of updated negotiating inputs

- 4WPM, Q4 2019 (TBC)

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N° 94 — June/July 2019

Accessions Anniversary dates — Article XII Members

Article XII Member Membership date

JULY Liberia 14 July 2016

Cabo Verde 23 July 2008

Moldova, Republic of 26 July 2001

Tonga 27 July 2007

Afghanistan 29 July 2016

AUGUST

Russian Federation 22 August 2012

Vanuatu 22 August 2012

WTO Building — Centre William Rappard

➔ Accession Working Parties ➔ Accessions Evolving Work Programme

➔ WTO Director-General's Annual Reports on Accessions

➔ Accession Commitments Database (ACDB)

➔ Handbook on Accessions to the WTO ➔ WTO Accessions Internship - "China Programme"

➔ Accession-Related Technical Assistance Activities ➔ Accession processes of Article XII Members, click here

➔ Accession Intelligence Portal (AIP) on the WTO Website (En, Fr, Es)

➔ WTO Accessions Newsletters

Accessions Toolbox

Previous WTO Accessions newsletters:

N° 91—January/February 2019 N° 92—February/March 2019 N° 93—April/May 2019