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ACCESSIONS

Nepal

This page gathers key information on the Kingdom of Nepal's negotiations to join the WTO.  The Kingdom of Nepal became the 147th WTO member on 23 April 2004.  Nepal is the first LDC to join the WTO through the full working party negotiation process.

> Page for Nepal as a Member

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WTO accession process in brief

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Nepal's Timeline

I. Overview
GATT application received 16/05/1989  L/6507
GATT Accession Working Party established 21/06/1989  C/M/234
GATT terms of reference & accession Working Party membership 04/07/1989  L/6532 ( + revisions)
WTO application received & WTO accession Working Party established 05/12/1995
  •  WT/ACC/NPL/1 (Request to transform the Working Party on the Accession of Nepal to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947 into a WTO accession Working Party. As per document WT/ACC/NPL/1 of 19 December 1995, the Working Party on the Accession of Nepal to the GATT 1947 was transformed into a WTO Accession Working Party, in accordance with the decision adopted by the General Council on 31 January 1995. Document WT/ACC/NPL/1 also reproduced the terms of reference of the Working Party. At the time, as indicated in the document, a Chairperson of the Working Party was yet to be nominated.)
Accession Working Party established 19/12/1995  WT/ACC/NPL/1
WTO terms of reference & accession Working Party membership  19/12/1995  WT/ACC/NPL/1;  WT/ACC/NPL/4  + ( revisions)
Chairperson of the Accession Working Party     
2nd 10/2002 - 04/2004 Ambassador Pierre-Louis GIRARD (Switzerland)
1st 01/2000 - 10/2002 Ambassador Roger FARREL (New Zealand)
Formal Meetings of the Working Party Date of the meeting Convening notice/fax Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation Statement(s) by Working Party members Delegation list Other documents for the meeting News item
1st 22/05/2000
2nd 12/09/2002
3rd 15/08/2003
Informal Meetings of the Working Party Date of the meeting Convening fax Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation
Plurilateral Meetings Date of the meeting Convening fax Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation
II. Multilateral Negotiations
Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR)  10/08/1998  WT/ACC/NPL/2 (+  addenda & corrigendum)
Initial cycle(s) of Questions and Replies, following the circulation of the MFTR 08/06/1999  WT/ACC/NPL/3 (+  corrigendum)
Factual Summary of Points Raised 
Additional Questions & Replies 15/10/2001  WT/ACC/NPL/9
Elements of a Draft Report of the Working Party 
Draft Report of the Working Party  20/06/2003  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/5  (+  revisions)
Agriculture (WT/ACC/22/Add.1), including Questions and Replies  17/09/1998  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/1 
08/07/1999  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/2  (+  revision & corrigendum)
SPS Checklist (WT/ACC/22/Add.2 12/04/2000  WT/ACC/NPL/6
TBT Checklist (WT/ACC/22/Add.2 12/04/2000  WT/ACC/NPL/5 
TRIPS Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22/Add.2
Import Licensing Procedures Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22 + revisions
Customs Valuation Checklist (WT/ACC/22 + revisions
State-Trading Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22 + revisions
Draft Subsidies Notification (WT/ACC/22/Add.2
Comprehensive Legislative Action Plan (LAP)  21/05/2002  WT/ACC/NPL/10  (+  revision)
Rule-specific Action Plans  12/04/2000  WT/ACC/NPL/7 (IP-specific)  (+  revision)
05/05/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/12 (SPS-specific) 
05/05/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/13 (TBT-specific) 
05/05/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/14 (IP-specific) 
05/05/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/15 (Custom Valuation) 
Legislation and implementing regulations    Click for details Legislation notice Notified legislation
08/06/1999  WT/ACC/NPL/3/Add.1   (+  corrigendum)
  •  Patent, Design and Trade-Mark Act (1965)
  •  Food Act (1966)
  •  Food Rules (1970)
  •  Plants Quarantine Act 2029 (1972)
  •  Plants Quarantine Rules 2031 (1975)
  •  Plant Protection Act 2029
  •  Customs Act (1962, amended 1997)
  •  Customs Rules (1970)
  •  Copyright Act (1965)
  •  Summary Trial Procedure Act (1972)
  •  Nepal's Trade and Transit Agreements 1993
  •  Treaty of Transit, Treaty of Trade and Agreement of Co-operation to Control Unauthorised Trade between His Majesty's Government of Nepal and the Government of India 1991 (as amended and updated to 1999)
  •  Schedules to Nepalese commitments in SAARC under SAPTA Agreement
08/06/1999  WT/ACC/NPL/3/Add.2
  •  Feed Act (Animal Concentrate) 2033 (1996)
  •  Copyright Act (First Amendment) 2054 (1997)
14/06/1999  WT/ACC/NPL/3/Add.3
  •  Patent, Design and Trade-Mark Act (1965)
  •  Food Act (1966)
  •  Food Rules (1970)
  •  Plants Quarantine Act 2029 (1972)
  •  Plants Quarantine Rules 2031 (1975)
  •  Plant Protection Act 2029
  •  Customs Act (1962, amended 1997)
  •  Customs Rules (1970)
  •  Copyright Act (1965)
  •  Summary Trial Procedure Act (1972)
  •  Nepal's Trade and Transit Agreements 1993
Consultation documents    Click for details Consultation notice Notified consultation document
25/09/1998  WT/ACC/NPL/2/Add.2
  •  Nepal's Customs Tariff 1997/1998
08/06/1999  WT/ACC/NPL/3/Add.1
  •  Customs Tariff (electronic format)
14/06/1999  WT/ACC/NPL/3/Add.3
  •  Customs Tariff (electronic format)
20/04/2000  WT/ACC/NPL/8 (+  revision)
  •  Check-list of Documents
16/09/2002  WT/ACC/NPL/11  Customs Tariff (Fiscal Year 2002/2003)
28/08/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/17
  •  Statements from Brazil regarding Paragraph 134 of the Draft Working Party Report
III. Bilateral Market Access Negotiations 
Goods Offer(s)  07/07/2000  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/3;  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/3/Rev.2
Services Offer(s)  07/07/2000  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/4;  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/4/Rev.2
Register of Bilateral Market Access Agreements 
Draft Goods Schedule  12/08/2003  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/3/Rev.3  (+  corrigenda)
Draft Services Schedule  15/08/2003  WT/ACC/SPEC/NPL/6  (+  corrigendum)
Goods and Services Technical Verification Meetings 
IV. Summary of Final Meeting of the Working Party
V. Accession Package (“Terms of Accession”, de-restricted) 
Ministerial Conference/General Council Decision on the Accession 11/09/2003  WT/MIN(03)/19  News item
Protocol of Accession  11/09/2003  WT/MIN(03)/19
Report of the Working Party 28/08/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/16
Goods Schedule (Schedule of Concessions and Commitments Annexed to the GATT 1994)  28/08/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/16/Add.1
Services Schedule (Schedule of Specific Commitments Annexed to the GATS)  28/08/2003  WT/ACC/NPL/16/Add.2
VI. Accessions Commitments Database (ACDB) 
Specific Accession Commitments   http://acdb.wto.org/ click on “Report by Member”, select “Nepal” in drop down list then click on “View Report”
VII. Instrument of Acceptance 
Notification of Acceptance and Entry Into Force of the Protocol of Accession 24/03/2004  WT/LET/464
VIII. Date of Membership
  23/04/2004 147th Member  News item
IX. Since 1995, this is the…
19th economy that joined the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement.

Note:
The de-restriction of documents is a key component of the transparency obligations of the Multilateral Trading System.  Paragraphs 1 and 2(e) of the Ministerial Council Decision WT/L/452 of 14 May 2002 provide that “documents relating to working parties on accession shall be restricted and shall be automatically de-restricted upon the adoption of the report of the working party” by the Ministerial Conference/General Council.  The time of completion of the de-restriction process depends on the amount and complexities of the documents involved.  Prior to 2002, the de-restriction of accession-related documents was governed by a different set of rules (i.e. General Council Decision WT/L/160/Rev.1 of 26 July 1996), which only affect documents circulated prior to 2002.