EN—2017—Issue 2

WTO ACCESSIONS NEWSLETTER

…safeguarding, enlarging and strengthening the rules-based multilateral trading system

WTO ACCESSION DEVELOPMENTS – SECRETARIAT REPORT TO MEMBERS

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70th Newsletter

Accessions Strategic Objectives

Domestic reform instrument

Systemic update

Market access expansion

International cooperation for trade

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SECOND INFORMAL GROUP ON ACCESSIONS

Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Agenda:

LDC Accessions—Strategic Priorities for 2017:

Accession of the Union of the Comoros

Accession of Sudan

Accession Working Parties Strategic Focus:

Lebanon and Belarus

Technical Assistance and Outreach: Course on

5th China Round Table; Training courses on

Goods Schedules for WTO Accession

Accession Anniversaries: Lao People’s Democratic

Republic, Armenia, and Latvia

Chaired by the WTO Secretariat (Maika Oshikawa, Officer in Charge of the Accessions Division).

LDC Accessions — Strategic Priorities for 2017

Comoros: Comoros submitted

several negotiating inputs following the first Working Party meeting held

in December 2016. Fourteen pieces

of legislation and one consultation document were made available to

the Working Party, while other inputs, including the updated

Legislative Action Plan, the TRIPS Checklist and Comoros' replies to

Members' questions, are being

processed and translated into English for circulation.

As mandated by the Working Party,

the Secretariat is preparing the draft Factual Summary of Points Raised, on

the bas is of the submitted negotiating inputs from Comoros.

The Secretariat is also assisting

C o m o r o s , i n c l u d i n g v i a videoconference with Moroni, on

several technical issues concerning

the revision of its market access offers

on goods and services.

In the week of 6 March, Ambassador

Luis Chavéz Basagoitia (Peru), Chairperson of the Working Party,

accompanied by the Secretariat, is scheduled to visit Moroni at the

invitation of the Government of the Comoros. His program in Moroni

includes meetings with the President,

the Speaker of the National Assembly and several Ministers, in addition to

the Comorian accession team led by the Vice President, H.E. Mr. Djaffar

Ahmed Said Hassani. The Working Party Chairperson is also scheduled

to participate in a Round Table on WTO accession to engage with

Comoros' key stakeholders.

On the margins of the Chairperson's

visit, the Secretariat will hold technical working sessions with the

Comorian experts to work towards

the finalization of the Factual Summary and its market access

offers.

The second Working Party meeting is

envisaged for late April 2017.

Sudan: The Working Party on the

accession of Sudan formally resumed its activities at its third meeting held

on 31 January 2017, after 13 years of

dormancy. The deadl ine for submitting questions and comments

to Sudan was 28 February.

Immediately after the Working Party meeting, Sudan submitted the 2016

applied tariff rates and trade statistics

for 2013-2015. In addition, Sudan submitted: the Checkl ist on

Implementation and Administration o f t h e C u s t o m s V a l u a t i o n

Agreement, the Questionnaire on State Trading, five pieces of

legislation and a consultation document. Sudan will also be

submitting the Questionnaire on

Import Licensing Procedures shortly.

On 16 February, the Accessions Division convened an inter-agency

meeting with the Executive Secretariat of the Enhanced

Integrated Framework (EIF), the

International Trade Centre (ITC), the UN Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD) and

development partners providing various forms of accession-related

technical assistance and capacity

building (TA/CB) to Sudan. The objective of the meeting, which was

attended by Ambassador Kamal Gu ba ra , De pu t y P e rma ne nt

Representative of Sudan, was to exchange information on Sudan's

priority needs, coordinate TA/CB

activities and initiatives, and identify synergies among the TA providers.

Ambassador Gubara expressed the appreciation of his Government to

the agencies and development partners, including China and Japan,

for providing support to meet its target to conclude its accession

negotiations by the 11th

WTO

Ministerial Conference.

At the request of Sudan, the Secretariat is scheduled to send

Secretariat experts to Khartoum in March, to provide technical

assistance on Sudan's market access

offer on services.

Mr. Ryosuke Kuwana (Japan),

Chairperson of the Working Party on the accession of Sudan, is invited by

the Government of Sudan to visit to

Khartoum in April.

Accession of Sudan - Inter-Agency meeting Geneva, 16 February 2017

Accession of Sudan - Inter-Agency meeting Geneva, 16 February 2017

Accession of the Union of the Comoros Videoconference with Moroni

22 February 2017

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WTO ACCESSIONS NEWSLETTER

Accession Working Parties Strategic Focus

Lebanon: At the request of Lebanon,

the Secretariat undertook a technical mission to Beirut from 20 to 25

February. The objective of the

mission was to review and update negotiating inputs for a formal

resumption of the Working Party on the accession of Lebanon, and to

agree on specific next steps in the accession process.

The Secretariat team held intensive technical working sessions with

Lebanon's WTO accession team and the representatives of the line

ministries involved in the accession process. These sessions reviewed the

required accession documentation, including the draft Working Party

Report, to reflect policy and

legislative developments which had taken place in Lebanon since the last

meeting of the Working Party held in

October 2009.

A full set of the updated negotiating

inputs, which also include the Legis lat ive Action P lan, the

Agriculture Supporting Tables, Questionnaires on State Trading and

Import Licensing, the Checklists on SPS, TBT and TRIPS, and an Aide

Memoire, is scheduled for circulation

to the Working Party in March.

On the bilateral market access front, Lebanon informed the Secretariat

that its updated revised offers on goods and services were being

finalised. Lebanon would be ready to work towards the finalization of its

bilateral negotiations with those

concerned Members.

During its mission, the Secretariat

team held several meetings with Mrs. Alia Abba, Director General of

Economy and Trade, including to

discuss specific next steps in the accession of Lebanon. Subject to the

timely circulation of all the negotiating inputs, the Working

Party is scheduled to hold its next meeting in May 2017.

Belarus: Following the 8th

Working Party meeting on the Accession of

Belarus held on 24 January, seven delegations submitted questions and

comments, which the Secretariat transmitted to Minsk.

Technical Assistance and Outreach Activities Fifth China Round Table, 20-23

March, Siem Reap, Cambodia

The Fifth China Round Table will take

place from 20 to 23 March in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The thematic focus

of this China Round Table is "Best Practices on the Accessions of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).'" The program and other information is

available on: https://www.wto.org/

e n g l i s h / t h e w t o _ e / a c c _ e /chinaround2017_e.htm

The China Round Table will be opened by H.E. Hun Sen, Prime

Minister of Cambodia. Participants to this high-level event include

Ministers, Chief Negotiators and

senior government officials from acceding LDCs and Article XII LDCs.

Other participants include: WTO

Members, international organisations and development partners, which

are actively engaged in supporting WTO accession and post-accession of

LDCs.

Tra ining Courses on Goods

Schedules for WTO Accession, 27-31

March, Geneva, Switzerland

A Training Course on Goods Schedules for WTO Accession will

take place from 27 to 31 March at the WTO headquarters. The course

is jointly organised by the Market

Access Intelligence Section of the

Economic Research and Statistics Division, and the Accessions Division.

Twenty-five participants from 12

acceding governments which are actively engaged in bilateral market

access negotiations will take part in

the specialised training.

In response to specific requests, this training is also open to WTO

Members on a self-funded basis, and

seven slots are allocated for this purpose.

Accession Anniversaries - February

The Accessions Division would like to extend a Happy WTO Accession Anniversary to Lao People's Democratic Republic, Armenia and Latvia. These 3 Members officially joined the WTO in the month of February.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Armenia

Latvia

Lao People's Democratic Republic is the

30th

economy that joined the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh

Agreement and became the 158th

Member of the WTO on 2 February 2013.

Armenia is the 17th

economy that

joined the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement

and became the 145th

Member of

the WTO on 5 February 2003.

Latvia is the 6th

economy that

joined the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement

and became the 134th

Member of

the WTO on 10 February 1999.

Upcoming anniversary in March

Tajikistan: 2 March 2013

2nd Informal Group on Accessions in 2017 Geneva, 28 February 2017

Technical Assistance mission to Beirut, Lebanon 20-25 February 2017

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WTO ACCESSIONS NEWSLETTER

List of WTO Accessions Working Party Chairpersons

No. Government Date Working Party

established Working Party Chairperson

1. Algeria 17 June 1987 H.E. Mr. Gustavo Miguel Vanerio Balbela (Uruguay)

2. Andorra 22 October 1997 Pending

3. Azerbaijan 16 July 1997 H.E. Dr. Walter Werner (Germany)

4. The Bahamas 18 July 2001 H.E. Mr. Wayne McCook (Jamaica)

5. Belarus 27 October 1993 H.E. Mr. Kemal Madenoğlu (Turkey)

6. Bhutan* 6 October 1999 H.E. Mr. Thomas Hajnoczi (Austria)

7. Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 July 1999 H.E. Dr. Rajmund Kiss (Hungary)

8. Comoros, Union of the* 9 October 2007 H.E. Mr. Luis Enrique Chávez Basagoitia (Peru)

9. Equatorial Guinea* 5 February 2008 Pending

10. Ethiopia* 10 February 2003 H.E. Dr. Steffen Smidt (Denmark)

11. Iran 26 May 2005 Pending

12. Iraq 13 December 2004 H.E. Mr. Omar Hilale (Morocco)

13. Lebanese Republic 14 April 1999 Mr. Jean-Paul Thuillier (France)

14. Libya 27 July 2004 Mr. Victor Echevarría Ugarte (Spain)

15. Sao Tomé and Principe* 26 May 2005 Pending

16. Serbia 15 February 2005 H.E. Mrs Marie-Claire Swärd Capra (Sweden)

17. Somalia* 7 December 2016 Pending

18. Sudan* 25 October 1994 Mr. Ryosuke Kuwana (Japan)

19. Syrian Arab Republic 4 May 2010 Pending

20. Timor-Leste* 7 December 2016 Pending

21. Uzbekistan 21 December 1994 H.E. Mr. Seokyoung Choi (Korea)

* Least-developed country (LDC)

WTO ACCESSIONS NEWSLETTER

Accession Working Parties Evolving Calendar of Accession Meetings (ECAM)

Accession Working Party Chairpersons Accession Commitments Database (ACDB)

WTO Director-General's Annual Reports on Accessions

WTO Accessions Internship - "China Programme"

Handbook on Accessions to the WTO Accession processes of Article XII Members, click here

Accession-Related Technical Assistance Activities WTO Accessions Newsletters

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

Contact the WTO Accessions Division Secretariat: accessions.newsletter@wto.org

Other accessions events

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Evolving Calendar of Accessions Meeting (ECAM)

Date Event

20-23 March 2017 5th China Round Table, Siem Reap, Cambodia

27-31 March 2017 Geneva-based training on goods for selected acceding governments and Members

[8-12 May 2017] [Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa in Nairobi, Kenya]

[September 2017] [Trade Policy Forum on Central Asia and the Multilateral Trading System, Astana, Kazakhstan]

Accessions Toolbox

DATE WORKING PARTY MEETING STATUS ROOM

Tuesday, 28 February IGA 2

nd 2017 Informal Group on Accessions (9:00

-10:00)

Convening fax dated 21/02/2017

refers D

27-28 February General Council

[End April] Comoros 2

nd Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of the Union of the Comoros Convening Notice pending TBC

[Monday, 8 — Tuesday, 9 May] General Council

[Second Quarter 2017] Lebanon 18

th Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of the Lebanese Republic Convening Notice pending TBC

[Second Quarter 2017] Sudan 4

th Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of Sudan Convening Notice pending TBC

[1st half of 2017] Timor-Leste

1st Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of Timor-Leste Convening Notice pending TBC

[1st half of 2017] Azerbaijan

14th

Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of Azerbaijan Convening Notice pending TBC

[1st half of 2017] Bosnia and Herzegovina

13th

Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AM) Convening Notice pending TBC

[1st half of 2017] Belarus

9th

Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of Belarus Convening Notice pending TBC

[1st half of 2017] Algeria

13th

Meeting of the Working Party on the

Accession of Algeria Convening Notice pending TBC

[Wednesday, 26 -Thursday, 27 July] General Council

11-14 December 2017 11th

Ministerial Conference (MC11), Buenos Aires, Argentina