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Any state or customs territory having full autonomy in the conduct of
its trade policies is eligible to accede to the WTO on terms agreed
between it and WTO members (Article XII of the WTO Agreement).
The
accession process commences with the submission of a formal written
request for accession pursuant to Article XII of the WTO Agreement.
This request is considered by the General Council which establishes a
Working Party to examine the accession request and to submit
recommendations to the General Council which may include a Protocol of
Accession. The Working Party is open to all members of the WTO.
Established
procedures require the applicant government to present to Working
Party members a memorandum covering all aspects of its trade and legal
regime. This memorandum forms the basis for detailed fact finding by
the Working Party. After examining all aspects of the existing trade
and legal regimes of the acceding government, the Working Party goes
into the substantive part of the multilateral negotiations involved in
accession, i.e. determining the terms and conditions of entry. These
terms and conditions, involving commitments to observe WTO rules and
disciplines upon accession, and transitional periods if any, are
finally incorporated in the Draft Report of the Working Party and the
Protocol of Accession.
At
the same time, the applicant government engages in bilateral
negotiations with interested Working Party members on concessions and
commitments on market access for goods and services. This bilateral
process determines the specific benefits for WTO members in permitting
the applicant to accede to the WTO.
Once
both the Working Party’s Draft Report and Protocol of Accession and
the market-access commitments in goods and services are completed to
the satisfaction of members of the Working Party, the “accession
package” is presented to the General Council or the Ministerial
Conference for adoption. Once approved, the applicant is then free to
sign the Protocol. Thirty days after the applicant government notifies
the WTO Secretariat that it has completed its ratification procedures,
the applicant government becomes a member of the WTO.
Questions
are often raised as to when a WTO applicant can accede to the WTO and
whether it joins the WTO as a developing or a developed country. These
questions are an inherent part of each WTO accession negotiation.
Basically, this involves the granting of certain flexibilities in the
implementation of WTO rules and disciplines — a matter determined in
the negotiation process. While accession processes vary in length and
can take several years to complete, much depends on the speed with
which the applicant government is able to adjust its trade and legal
regime to the requirements of WTO rules and disciplines.
Because
each accession Working Party takes decisions by consensus, WTO members
must be in agreement that their individual concerns have been met and
that all outstanding issues have been resolved in the course of their
deliberations.
Since
the WTO was established on 1 January 1995, 29 countries have become
WTO members. These are: Albania, Angola, Benin, Bulgaria, Chad, Congo,
Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Estonia, Fiji, Gambia,
Georgia, Grenada, Haiti, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Kyrgyz Republic,
Moldova, Mongolia, Niger, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Solomon Islands, and the United Arab Emirates.
With
30 governments still in the queue for membership to the WTO, accession
will remain a major challenge for WTO members in the years ahead.
Applicants
back
to top
The
following 30 governments have requested to join the WTO and their
applications are currently being considered by WTO accession working
parties or, as in the case of the People’s Republic of China and
Chinese Taipei and Vanuatu pending approval by the Ministerial
Conference. Each of the governments listed below has WTO observer
status.
Algeria
Andorra
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Belarus
Bosnia
Herzegovina
Bhutan
Cambodia
Cape
Verde
People’s
Republic of China
Kazakhstan
Lao
People’s Democratic Republic
Lebanon
Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Nepal
Russian
Federation
Samoa
Saudi
Arabia
Seychelles
Sudan
Chinese
Taipei
Tajikistan
Tonga
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Yemen
Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia
Membership
of the World Trade Organization back
to top
142
governments as of 26 July 2001
|
Member |
Date
of membership |
|
Albania
|
8
September 2000 |
|
Angola
|
1
December 1996 |
|
Antigua
and Barbuda
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Argentina
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Australia
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Austria
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Bahrain
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Bangladesh
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Barbados
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Belgium
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Belize
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Benin
|
22
February 1996 |
|
Bolivia
|
13
September 1995 |
|
Botswana
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Brazil
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Brunei
Darussalam
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Bulgaria
|
1
December 1996 |
|
Burkina
Faso
|
3
June 1995 |
|
Burundi
|
23
July 1995 |
|
Cameroon
|
13
December 1995 |
|
Canada
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Central
African Republic
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Chad
|
19
October 1996 |
|
Chile
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Colombia
|
30
April 1995 |
|
Congo
|
27
March 1997 |
|
Costa
Rica
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Côte
d’Ivoire
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Croatia
|
30
November 2000
|
|
Cuba
|
20
April 1995 |
|
Cyprus
|
30
July 1995 |
|
Czech
Republic
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Democratic
Republic of the Congo
|
1
January 1997 |
|
Denmark
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Djibouti
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Dominica
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Dominican
Republic
|
9
March 1995 |
|
Ecuador
|
21
January 1996 |
|
Egypt
|
30
June 1995 |
|
El
Salvador
|
7
May 1995 |
|
Estonia
|
13
November 1999 |
|
European
Union
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Fiji
|
14
January 1996 |
|
Finland
|
1
January 1995 |
|
France
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Gabon
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Gambia
|
23
October 1996 |
|
Georgia
|
14
June 2000 |
|
Germany
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Ghana
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Greece
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Grenada
|
22
February 1996 |
|
Guatemala
|
21
July 1995 |
|
Guinea
Bissau
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Guinea
|
25
October 1995 |
|
Guyana
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Haiti
|
30
January 1996 |
|
Honduras
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Hong
Kong, China
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Hungary
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Iceland
|
1
January 1995 |
|
India
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Indonesia
|
1January
1995 |
|
Ireland
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Israel
|
21
April 1995 |
|
Italy
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Jamaica
|
9
March 1995 |
|
Jordan
|
11
April 2000 |
|
Japan
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Kenya
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Korea
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Kuwait
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Kyrgyz
Republic
|
20
December 1998 |
|
Latvia
|
10
February 1999 |
|
Lesotho
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Liechtenstein
|
1
September 1995 |
|
Lithuania
|
31
May 2001
|
|
Luxembourg
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Macao,
China
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Madagascar
|
17
November 1995 |
|
Malawi
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Malaysia
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Maldives
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Mali
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Malta
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Mauritania
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Mauritius
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Mexico
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Moldova
|
26
July 2001
|
|
Mongolia
|
29
January 1997 |
|
Morocco
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Mozambique
|
26
August 1995 |
|
Myanmar
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Namibia
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Netherlands
— including Netherlands Antilles
|
1
January 1995 |
|
New
Zealand
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Nicaragua
|
3
September 1995 |
|
Niger
|
13
December 1996 |
|
Nigeria
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Norway
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Oman
|
9
November 2000
|
|
Pakistan
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Panama
|
6
September 1997 |
|
Papua
New Guinea
|
9
June 1996 |
|
Paraguay
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Peru
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Philippines
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Poland
|
1
July 1995 |
|
Portugal
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Qatar
|
13
January 1996 |
|
Romania
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Rwanda
|
22
May 1996 |
|
Saint
Kitts and Nevis
|
21
February 1996 |
|
Saint
Lucia
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Saint
Vincent & the Grenadines
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Senegal
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Sierra
Leone
|
23
July 1995 |
|
Singapore
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Slovak
Republic
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Slovenia
|
30
July 1995 |
|
Solomon
Islands
|
26
July 1996 |
|
South
Africa
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Spain
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Sri
Lanka
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Suriname
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Swaziland
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Sweden
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Switzerland
|
1
July 1995 |
|
Tanzania
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Thailand
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Togo
|
31
May 1995 |
|
Trinidad
and Tobago
|
1
March 1995 |
|
Tunisia
|
29
March 1995 |
|
Turkey
|
26
March 1995 |
|
Uganda
|
1
January 1995 |
|
United
Arab Emirates
|
10
April 1996 |
|
United
Kingdom
|
1
January 1995 |
|
United
States
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Uruguay
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Venezuela
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Zambia
|
1
January 1995 |
|
Zimbabwe
|
3
March 1995 |
|
