The accession process — the procedures and how they have been applied

4.5 Working Party examination of applicant’s trade regime

The first meeting of the Working Party is scheduled once Members are satisfied that the Memorandum, and the written questions and replies, provide an adequate factual basis to begin the examination of the applicant’s trade regime.

The procedures suggest that “adequate lead-time should be allowed in the preparatory stage of accession negotiations before meetings of the Working Party are convened, to enable both the applicant and members of the Working Party to better prepare themselves. As a rule, there should be a sufficient lapse of time (generally four to six weeks) between the formal circulation of documentation and meetings of the Working Party. The dates of meetings are set after the relevant documentation has been circulated. The convening notice of meetings should specify the purpose of each meeting and the documentation before it”.⁸¹

At the first meeting of each Working Party, the applicant is invited to make an introductory statement. Members then normally welcome the applicant and those intending to take an active part in the negotiations may also make some of their expectations known.

The procedures state that “at the initial meeting of the Working Party, representatives from the applicant and members of the Working Party examine the Memorandum and the questions and answers provided with a view to seeking any further clarifications that may be required in the light of the various provisions of the WTO Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements”.⁸²

During this technical work each of the topics in the Memorandum is examined in turn using the Memorandum as a basis, together with the questions and answers and the other supporting documentation circulated. Members may ask for copies of relevant laws and regulations. Discussions are normally based on questions from interested WTO Members. The acceding delegation provides oral answers to these questions to the extent it is able to do so. It is usual for the leader of its delegation to answer but other members of the delegation may also do so if asked by the leader.

The primary aims of the question and answer process are to identify the laws, regulations and practices that are relevant to each topic and to understand if these are in conformity with WTO requirements. This discussion will already begin to reveal changes that may be necessary to ensure conformity.

At the end of each meeting of the Working Party, the Chairperson generally sums up the state of play and the next steps required for future meetings. This preparation is carried out, inter alia, through informal consultations with the applicant, members of the Working Party and the Secretariat.

After the meeting, members submit written questions, some of which would have already been raised at the meeting. Applicants are then required to prepare written replies to all questions and to forward them to the Secretariat. The questions and replies documents circulated after each meeting of the Working Party constitute a record of the discussions.

Further fact-finding meetings may be held as necessary before the Working Party begins to negotiate the terms on which the applicant will accede. The number of such meetings and the length of time this process takes have varied considerably, depending on a number of factors including the interest generated by a particular accession, the complexity of the policies examined, the adequacy of the information supplied and the tabling of initial offers. The process is accelerated and time used most productively if acceding governments submit in good time the information asked for, and responses to the questionnaires and check-lists listed above. Once the fact-finding work has provided a sufficient factual basis for the negotiations, the Working Party moves to the negotiating phase.⁸³

The Secretariat is often requested, at an appropriate stage, to prepare an informal Factual Summary of Points Raised in order to consolidate the information contained in the Memorandum, the supplementary documents, and the questions and replies documents. The subjects covered in the factual summary are broadly the same as in the Memorandum. The purpose of this Summary is to facilitate the work of the applicant and the members of the Working Party by identifying the points that are established and those that require further clarification, as well as to make the process more transparent. As work proceeds and as negotiations on multilateral commitments advance, the Factual Summary of Points Raised will gradually evolve into a draft Report of the Working Party which will contain not only factual information but also commitments to be accepted by the new Member. During this process, further revisions are prepared and circulated to Working Party members, as necessary.

In consultation with WTO Members, the Secretariat and Working Party members have worked together with applicants to streamline the accession process for least-developed countries. The steps taken included drafting a Factual summary at an early stage of the proceedings, and keeping the number of Working Party meetings at a minimum⁸⁴ by ensuring that maximum progress is made between meetings without the acceding governments having to visit Geneva, and by organizing bilateral market access negotiations on goods and services in the acceding government’s capital or through the Secretariat to the extent possible.

 

Notes:

81. WTO document WT/ACC/1, para 8. back to text
82. WTO document WT/ACC/1, para. 11. back to text
83. WTO document WT/ACC/10/Rev.3, p. 11. In some cases initial offers on goods and services were tabled before the first meeting of the Working Party (Andorra, Tajikistan) but this is exceptional. In another exceptional case, 9 meetings were held before the offers on both goods and services were made available (Russian Federation). back to text
84. WTO document WT/COMTD/LDC/W/27 (WT/ACC/12). back to text