The Group was launched on 27 July 2022 during the Aid for Trade Global Review to promote effective coordination of technical assistance (TA) among partners so that the evolving needs of acceding governments are met in a timely and tailor-made manner, including in the post-accession phase.

The second meeting of the Group, attended by over 30 participants from members and partner institutions, focused on the specific needs of Comoros and Timor-Leste following the fifth meeting of the Working Party on the accession of Timor-Leste held the same day.

In his opening remarks, WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang noted that technical assistance has played an important role in LDC accessions. Now that the accessions of Comoros and Timor-Leste are progressing rapidly towards conclusion, with the terms of their WTO membership starting to emerge, it is important to start looking at the support these two LDCs would need to implement their future commitments and obligations.

“Based on the experience from past accessions, the implementation of WTO commitments can be as challenging and demanding as negotiating them, if not more so,” he said.

He also highlighted that the WTO Secretariat organised technical assistance roundtables with development partners for Comoros in January 2022 and for Timor-Leste in November 2020 and April 2022. At these roundtables, both LDCs presented TA matrices detailing their accession-related needs, based on inputs collected from various government agencies involved in the accession negotiations.

The Secretariat presented the Framework for WTO Post-Accession Implementation and Support, which has four pillars (see the Secretariat Note titled “Best Practices on WTO Post-accession” in document WT/ACC/27).

Developed for Afghanistan and Liberia following the conclusion of their accession negotiations in 2015, the framework underlines work to be undertaken during the post-accession period. This includes the implementation of accession-specific commitments contained in the Accession Protocol (the formal document by which a new member joins the WTO and agrees to be bound by its multilateral agreements) and notification obligations as well as support required to realize the benefits of WTO membership and integration into the global economy.

The Secretariat expressed its readiness to assist with the preparation of WTO post-accession implementation strategies for Comoros and Timor-Leste in the coming months.

Joaquim Amaral, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Timor-Leste and WTO Chief Negotiator, expressed his Government's appreciation for the valuable support it has received from development partners so far and its readiness to provide further support after the accession.

Timor-Leste presented an updated matrix detailing the country's technical assistance needs during accession and post-accession and emphasized the importance of coordinated TA delivery to avoid duplications.

Ahmed Mzé, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Comoros to the United Nations in Geneva, presented Comoros' post-accession TA needs in three areas, namely technical barriers to trade (TBT), sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and trade facilitation. Reforms in these areas would assist Comoros in diversifying its export portfolio.

Following the presentations, several development partners, including the International Trade Centre (ITC), World Bank, the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), World Trade Institute Advisors and bilateral partners, welcomed the progress made in both accessions and reaffirmed their support for Comoros and Timor-Leste in their transition to WTO membership.