The 30-day countdown to Liberia’s WTO membership was activated when Liberia’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, Axel Addy, handed to the WTO the instrument of acceptance of Liberia’s Protocol of Accession on 14 June 2016.

“Liberia’s accession underscores the WTO’s commitment to supporting the participation of LDCs in the multilateral trading system”, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said. “It is an important moment. WTO membership will help Liberia to benefit from the international trade and investment that is essential to build the economy and improve people’s lives. I extend my particular congratulations to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Minister Axel Addy for the key role they played in the accession process, during an extremely challenging period for the country. I hope that this achievement will help the country to continue on the path of hope, progress and development.”

Liberia’s Accession Package was approved by the Working Party members on 6 October 2015 and by Ministers at the Nairobi Ministerial Conference on 16 December 2015.

Seven African countries are still negotiating their WTO accession, out of nineteen governments. The full list of WTO observers can be found here.

Liberia’s accession commitments can be found in the Accession Commitments Database. The database includes all accession commitments of the 35 members that have acceded to the WTO since the organization was established in 1995.

Learn more about Liberia’s WTO accession negotiations here.