WT/ACC/38  
WT/GC/228  
 
18 February 2021  
(21-1414) Page: 1/42 
    
 
WTO ACCESSIONS  
2020 ANNUAL REPORT BY THE  DIRECTOR -GENERAL* 
 
 
 
 
  
 
* In the absence of the Director -General since September 2020, this report is presented by the Deputy 
Director -General in charge of Accessions.  Unless  otherwise specified, this Annual Report takes account of 
confirmed accession -related developments from 1 January 2020 to until 31 December 2020.  This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and is without prejudice to the positions of Members or 
to their rights and obligations under the WTO.   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  TABLE OF CONTENTS  
I. OVERVIEW 2020 AND OUTLOOK 2021  ................................ ................................ ..... 3 
II. DEVELOPMENTS IN 2020  ................................ ................................ .........................  6 
1. ACCESSI ON WORKING PARTIES: AN OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES  ............................  6 
2. NEW OBSERVER  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 6 
3. WORKING PARTY CHAIRPERSONS  ................................ ................................ ..........  6 
4. TRANSPARENCY IN THE ACCESSION PROCESS  ................................ ........................  7 
5.  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OUTREACH  ................................ ...............................  8 
III. STATE OF PLAY IN ACCESSION WORKING PARTIES  ................................ ..............  12 
IV. ACCESSIONS OF LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  ................................ ..................  15 
V. "TRADE FOR PEACE THROUGH WTO ACCESSIONS" INITIATIVE  ............................  16 
VI.  WTO ACCESSIONS AND REGIONAL TRADE INTEGRATION  ................................ ..... 17 
1. INTRODUCTION  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 17 
2.  PARTICIPATION OF ACCEDING GOVERNMENTS IN RTAS  ................................ ....... 18 
3.  PARALLEL PURSUIT OF WTO ACCESSION AND REGIONAL TRADE  
INTEGRATION: PROCESS AND SUBSTANCE  ................................ ...........................  21 
4.  CONCLUSION: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NAVIGATING PARALLEL  
NEGOTIATING PROCESSES  ................................ ................................ ....................  24 
VII.  POST -ACCESSION  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 25 
VIII.  TRADE AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF ARTICLE XII MEMBERS  .......................  26 
ANNEX 1 – ACCESSIONS DIVISION WORK INDICATORS (2018 -2020)  ...........................  31 
ANNEX 2 - ACCESS IONS NEGOTIATED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE XII  ................................  32 
ANNEX 3 - WTO ACCESSIONS WORKING PARTY CHAIRPERSONS  ................................ ... 33 
ANNEX 4 - OVERVIEW OF RTAS BY ARTICLE XII MEMBERS  ................................ ............  34 
ANNEX 5 – LENGTH OF TIME OF COMPLETED ACCESSIONS  ................................ ............  36 
ANNEX 6 – BASIC ECONOMIC PROFILES OF ACCEDING GOVERNMENTS AND  
ARTICLE XII MEMBERS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 37 
ANNEX 7 – DATA ON TRADE PERFORMANCE  ................................ ................................ ... 40 
ANNEX 8 – ACCESSIONS MANAGEMENT  ................................ ................................ .........  42 
 
   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  I. OVERVIEW 20 20 AND OUTLOOK 202 1 
Overview of activities in 2020  
1. 2020 was an unprecedented year in recent history due the COVID -19 pandemic outbreak and 
its consequences which have touched upon every single aspect of our lives in every corner of the 
world. It was a challenging year for the WTO, not least because the pan demic disrupted its core 
activities, especially during the first half of the year, and it also disrupted the international trade of 
Members, except for supplies of essential goods critical to combatting the health crisis as trade in 
these goods expanded dr amatically. The difficulties and challenges arising from the pandemic were 
particularly pronounced in acceding governments due to the uncertainties of being outside of the 
multilateral trading system. In fact, the desire and urgency to be part of the WTO w as never felt 
stronger than in the pandemic year. This was reflected in the level of accession activities in 2020, 
which was sustained vis -à-vis previous years, with a significant increase in technical assistance and 
outreach activities.  
 
2. The year for acc essions started with the establishment of a new Working Party for the 
accession of Curaçao, a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (WTO Member), 
following its application for an independent membership as a separate customs territory pu rsuant to 
Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement. This constituted the 59th request by a state or separate 
customs territory for membership since the establishment of the Organization in 1995. In July, 
Turkmenistan was granted observer status in the WTO, w ith the understanding that it would apply 
for accession no later than in five years. This brought the total number of observer governments 
with the intention to accede to the WTO to 24, an increase by five since 2016 when Afghanistan and 
Liberia became the  Organization's most recent Members. The continuing interest to become part of 
the multilateral trading system is a testament to the attraction and relevance of its values and 
principles for all economies, regardless of their size or level of development.  
 
3. The COVID -19 pandemic undoubtedly hampered or delayed the technical work by acceding 
governments, Members and the Secretariat to prepare for, engage in and follow up on Working Party 
meetings. However, thanks to the firm commitment of the acceding govern ments to advance their 
work, four Working Parties met, including through the use of virtual platforms that connected the 
acceding governments which were unable to travel to Geneva. One acceding government had to 
cancel its already scheduled meeting due to the suspension of all WTO meetings in March. Out of 
the four accession Working Party meetings held in 2020, three were on LDC accessions (Ethiopia, 
Comoros and Timor -Leste). In two cases - the Working Parties of Ethiopia and Uzbekistan – this also 
represen ted the formal resumption of accession processes after several years of inactivity (8 and 15 
years, respectively), signalling their desire to use WTO membership negotiations to drive domestic 
economic reforms, which have broader implications in the regions  where they are located.   
 
4. When the pandemic halted planned missions, technical assistance, and outreach activities 
which required air travel, the Secretariat rapidly shifted the mode of operation to virtual format and 
took advantage of the opportunities provided thereby. In addition to the formal accession Working 
Party meetings which took place via Interprefy, the Accessions Division organised virtual technical 
meetings and briefing sessions with acceding governments, Working Party Chairpersons and 
partn ers in support of accessions. Moreover, the Division delivered a number of technical assistance, 
training and outreach activities in response to articulated needs of acceding governments, using 
various virtual platforms, such as MS Teams, Zoom and WebEx. I n fact, the number of activities 
delivered by the Division and of participants who attended or were trained in 2020 exceeded 
considerably the numbers in previous years.   
 
5. One of the novel outreach programs developed in 2020 was two week -long activities wh ich 
consisted of a series of webinars combining lectures, training and panel discussions. The first 
Accessions Week was organised from 29 June to 3 July, and the first edition of the Trade for Peace 
Week took place from 30 November to 4 December. These vir tual events brought together a large 
number of resource persons and panellists from around the world and reached out to a larger number 
of participants, in a highly cost -effective manner, in comparison with traditional in -person activities. 
While the full values and benefits of in -person interaction cannot be replaced or replicated, the 
Accessions Week enabled the Secretariat to remain engaged with acceding governments and 
Members, experts and partners, beyond Geneva and around the world. The Trade for Peac e Week 
provided an effective networking platform to expand the WTO's partnership with the peace and 
humanitarian communities in support of fragile and conflict affected (FCA) countries in accession.      WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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6. The importance of collaboration and cooperation with  partners was never felt more strongly 
than in 2020. The Secretariat made concerted efforts to enhance and expand the "Trade for Peace 
through WTO Accession" Initiative to support FCA countries in accession and those recently acceded 
to the WTO. In 2020, n ine acceding governments were identified as being in a FCA situation 
according to the World Bank's classification1, while conflicts emerged or resurged in some others. 
The pandemic hit hardest countries which had already been suffering from years of confl ict, political 
crises, drought and other natural disasters, compounded by declines of the price of oil and other 
commodities. Nonetheless, some FCA acceding LDCs showed remarkable resilience in sustaining 
their engagement in accession. The Working Party on  the Accession of the Union of Comoros 
resumed its work with determination to finalise the process as soon as possible. The Working Party 
on the Accession of Timor -Leste activated the Working Party by holding its first meeting nearly four 
years after its e stablishment, despite various challenges faced on the domestic front. Moreover, 
Somalia submitted its Memorandum o n the Foreign Trade Regime, the base document to  start its 
accession engagement with Members. Furthermore, the Secretariat continued to provid e support to 
the g7+ WTO Accessions Group, which was coordinated by Afghanistan.  
 
7. The year 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of the WTO. The Secretariat used its annual 
flagship event, the China Round Table on WTO Accessions, to review the contributions ma de by 
accessions to the multilateral trading system since 1995. The event also provided an opportunity for 
an exchange of ideas to explore the future expansion of WTO membership towards universality, 
including through possible improvements in the accession  process. The year also marked a 
significant anniversary milestone for five Article XII Members2 – Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Jordan 
and Oman which joined the WTO in 2000, the year with the largest number of new members to date. 
Other anniversary mileston es included the fifth anniversaries of Membership of Kazakhstan and 
Seychelles and the fifteenth anniversary for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In recent years, 
membership anniversaries have become an important occasion to reflect on the benefits and values 
of being part of the Organization.      
 
8. Finally, the thematic focus of the 2020 Annual Report was on the complementarities and 
synergies in negotiating WTO membership and regional trade agreements. Almost all acceding 
governments are involved in regional integration initiatives in parallel with their efforts to achieve 
WTO membership. The highlight of the year was the implementation of the African Continental Free 
Trade Area (AfCFTA) to which all African WTO applicants are signatories. The Report's themati c 
section builds on the rich discussions held on the topic during the 2020 Regional Dialogues on WTO 
Accessions for Africa and for the Arab Region, as well as other meetings on Central Asia and Eurasia. 
It aims to explore key opportunities and challenges t hat may arise in a simultaneous pursuit of 
regional and global integration efforts and to provide a checklist of issues for trade negotiators to 
consider in maximising the benefits from the participation in multiple trade arrangements.  
 
Outlook for 2021  
9. Looking ahead, the COVID -19 pandemic is likely to continue to impact all aspects of WTO 
activities, including accessions. In addition to the usual factors influencing the pace of accessions, 
changes in geopolitical dynamics continue to impact some acc essions. Two of the three accessions 
identified as strategic focus for the preceding year remain in strategic focus for 2021. These include 
Comoros, an LDC, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where technical work is at an advanced stage. With 
Members' support, th e finalization of their accession negotiations by the 12th WTO Ministerial 
Conference can contribute to the advancement of the twin objectives of peace and prosperity for 
both countries, as well as the objective of expansion of the coverage of the WTO 's rules to all of 
world trade. The continuation and acceleration of work is expected in the accessions of Ethiopia, 
Timor -Leste and Uzbekistan, while the resumption of the Working Parties is also expected for 
Azerbaijan, Iraq and Sudan, where technical work ha s advanced.  
 
10. Building on the progress made in the previous years, LDC accessions will remain a priority in 
2021. The year is expected to bring renewed interest in LDC accessions as it will mark the 20th 
anniversary of the Doha Ministerial Conference where  the mandate for LDC priority was established 
 
1 According to the 2021 list of fragile and conflict -affected situations (FCS) , these are: high -intensity 
conflict (Libya, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic), medium -intensity conflict (Iraq, South Sudan), and high 
institutional and social fragility (Comoros, Lebanon, Sudan and Timor -Leste). Others that had been included in 
the earlier FCS lists include: Bosnia and He rzegovina, Sao Tome and Principe, and Uzbekistan.   
2 Those countries having acceded to the WTO after its founding on 1 January 1995.   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  by Members, and the preparatory process starts for the fifth United Nations Conference on LDCs 
(LDC-V), which was postponed from March 2021 to January 2022 due to the pandemic. In addition 
to those mentioned in  the previous paragraph, Somalia and South Sudan can be expected to activate 
their accession processes in 2021. Moreover, the prospect for graduation from LDC status may add 
urgency for some LDCs to advance their accession negotiations.   
 
11. The Secretariat plans to expand and upgrade its capacity to deliver technical assistance, 
training and outreach activities using virtual platforms, which will complement in -person activities 
even when travel and other restrictions associated with the COVID -19 pandemic are  lifted. 
Partnership and collaboration will remain a critical pillar for accession outreach activities. In addition, 
specific steps will be implemented to upgrade the Trade for Peace Initiative to a more structured 
form of cooperation, based on the recomme ndations from the 2020 Trade for Peace Week.        
 
12. Transparency in the WTO accession process shall remain a key pillar of the Secretariat's work, 
along with sharing accession knowledge by providing platforms, tools and access for acceding 
governments and  the accession community at large.  A new, user -friendly accession portal will be 
launched during the first quarter in 2021, as a first step in modernizing and digitalising the accession -
related information. Greater use of audio and video content is also p lanned, including for social 
media platforms. In addition, the publication of two books focused on accession by Cambridge 
University Press by the end of 2021 is expected to enrich knowledge on various aspects of WTO 
accessions.  
 
13. Despite the enormous contr ibutions made in strengthening the multilateral trading system 
during the last quarter of the century, WTO accessions remain unfinished business with respect to 
the goal of universality. As the guardian of the system, the Secretariat remains fully committe d to 
advancing this goal by facilitating accession processes for the benefit of acceding governments and 
Members. The year 2021 can bring to fruition the long years of their hard work. These countries 
have invested substantially in the accessions process. Their efforts can result in the inclusion at the 
12th Ministerial Conference of additional countries in the roster of WTO Membership.   
 
 
 
Alan Wm. Wolff  
Deputy Director -General  
   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  II. DEVELOPMENTS  IN 2020  
1. ACCESSION WORKING PARTIES: AN OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES  
14. At the start of the year, 22 governments were in the process of WTO accession.  With the 
establishment of  the Working Party on the Accession of Curaçao  by the General Council in March 
2020, that number has increased to 23.  
15. In the year under review  four formal Working Party meetings were held. These were on the 
accessions of Ethiopia (fourth meeting) , Uzbekistan (fourth meeting ), Comoros (fifth meeting) and 
Timor -Leste (first meeting).3  
16. Progress in the accession Working Parties was documented as follows:  
• Memorand a on the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR) w ere circulated  and revised  for the 
Working Part ies on the Accession of  Somalia  and Uzbekistan, respectively;   
• Draft Report s of the Working Party w ere revised by the Secretariat for the Working Part ies 
on the Accession of Belarus  and Comoros . 
In total, 59 accession documents were issued under document symbols WT/ACC, WT/ACC/SPEC and 
JOB/ACC series, for six Working Parties  (see Annex 1) .  
2. NEW OBSERVER  
17. In May, Turkmenistan submitted a request for observer status which included its intent to 
initiate negotiations for WTO accession within a period of five years. At the meeting of the General 
Council on 22 July 2020, Members agreed to grant Turkmenistan observer status in the Organization.  
3. WORKING PARTY CHAIRPERSONS  
18. As of December , of the thirteen  Working Pa rty Chairperson s, nine were Geneva -based  and 
three were women. There were ten vacancies for the positions of Chairpersons of Accession Working 
Parties, including vacancies on accessions at their initial stages, where no documentary basis for 
work exist ed (see Annex 3).  
19. There w ere five change s in the status of accession Working Party Chairpersons during the 
period under review:  
• Ambassador  Mikael Anzén (Sweden) was appointed as Chairperson of the Working Party 
of the Accession of Somalia  in October;  
• The pos itions of Chairperson of the Working Parties on the Accession of Azerbaijan, 
The Bahamas, Comoros and South Sudan became vacant following the resignation of 
Dr Walter Werner (Germany), Ambassador Andrew Staines (United Kingdom), 
Ambassador Luis Enrique Chávez Basagoitia (Peru)  and Ambassador Mohammad Qurban 
Haqjo (Afghanistan) , respectively, by the end of 2020.  
20. In 20 20, Working Party Chairpersons remained activel y engaged. They consulted with 
Members and acceding governments in various formats and configurations and  participated  in 
outreach to improve technical and policy understanding on WTO accessions. The active engagement 
of Chairpersons played a significant r ole in advanc ing the accessions processes, including through 
country visits.  In 2020, Mr Katsuro Nagai (Japan) , Chairperson of the Working Party on the Accession 
 
3 The meetings were held on 30 January, 7 July, 14 September and 1 October, respectively. Due to the 
COVID -19 pandemic, the  Working Party meetings of Uzbekistan, Comoros and Timor -Leste were held in hybrid 
mode (with in -person attendance and simultaneously on the Interprefy platform). In addition, the 13th Working 
Party meeting on the Accession of Belarus, which was scheduled for 24 March, had to be postponed due to the 
closure of the WTO premises because of the COVID -19 pandemic.    WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  of Sudan, visited Khartoum on 26 -27 January , while other planned visits were cancelled due to the 
COVID -19 pandemic . 
4. TRANSPARENCY IN THE ACCESSION PROCESS  
21. Ensuring transparency and predictability in the accession process remain s a key priorit y for 
the Secretariat  and Members. Various transparency measures continued to be implemented in 20 20. 
i. Informal Group on Accessions (IGA)  
22. The IGA held six meetings  in 2020.4 Consultations in the IGA focused on: (i)  Secretariat 
reports on state of play in accession; (ii) Secretariat reports on technical -assistance and outreach 
activities; ( iii) report s by two Working Party Chairperson s5; (iv) planning of accession meetings  and 
activities ; and (vi) addressing specific concerns raised by Members.  
ii. WTO Accessions Newsletter  
23. In the pe riod under review the Secretariat issued six WTO Accessions Newsletters. 
The Newsletter ensures transparency on accession matters, including recent developments, calendar 
of activities and issues of interests to the accession community. It also aims to enh ance 
communication with acceding governments, Chairpersons, Members, partners and the broader trade 
policy community.  In 2020, the presentation of the Newsletter was changed to a  web-based  and 
user-friendly format . The number of subscribers to the Newslett er at the end of 2020 was 1 600 
(excluding subscribers from the Secretariat) , representing a 60% increase from 2019. 
iii. Annual Outreach Dialogue with WTO Regional Groups  
24. The Secretariat regularly organises outreach dialogues with various WTO Regi onal Groups to 
strengthen communication channels with Members and acceding governments . The dialogue also 
provide s a platform to exchange region -specific information on WTO  accessions. In 2020,  due to the 
COVID -19 pandemic, no dialogue could be organised.    
iv. Accessions Transparency Toolbox  
• WTO Accessions Intelligence Portal (AIP)  
25. The Accessions Intelligence Portal ( https://www.wto.org/accessions ) forms an integral part of 
the Secretariat's initiative  to enhance transparency on WTO accession negotiations.  The AIP provides 
access to documentation and data on the WTO  accession processes, including 36 completed and 2 3 
ongoing accessions. The Portal is regularly updated based on documentation received from acceding 
governments and produced by the Secretariat w ith respect to ongoing accessions.6 In 2020, a new, 
more user -friendly layout of the AIP was developed , to be launched in 2021.  
• Accession Commitments Database (ACDB)  
26. The Accession Commitments Database (http://acdb.wto.org) provides access to all accessio n-
specific commitments  and related information contained in Accession Working Party Reports and 
Protocols of the 36 Article  XII Members. The ACDB is available  to the general public  in the three 
WTO official languages .  
• Register of Bilateral Market Access Agreements  
 
4 In 2020, the IGA met on 6  February, 14 May, 25 June, 28 July, 29 September and 18 December.  All 
meetings, except the February meeting, took place  virtually or in hybrid mode.  
5 At the IGA meeting of 6 February, Mr Katsuro Nagai (Japan), Chairperson of the Working Party on the 
Accession of Sudan,  reported on his visit to Sudan  on 26-27 January  (contained in document JOB/ACC/SDN/9) . 
At the IGA meetin g of 29 September, Ambassador Omar Hilale (Morocco), Chairperson of the Working Party on 
the Accession of Iraq,  reported on his visit to Geneva on 24-26 August (contained in document JOB/ACC/IRQ/2 ). 
6 While the AIP is open to the public, some parts of the website, including access to documents of ongoing 
accession negotiations, remain password -protected and are only accessible to Members and acceding 
governments.   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  27. The Register of Bilateral Market Access Agreements contains basic information regarding 
signed bilateral market access agreements on goods and services that have been deposited with the 
Secretariat. The Register lists the type of the agre ement (goods; services; or both), and the dates 
of signature and deposit. The content of bilateral market access agreements remains confidential to 
the signatories and the Secretariat, which acts as the depository of the Agreements. Reports 
generated by th e Register are available to WTO  Members via a password -protected access: 
https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/xacc_e/register_e.htm.  
5.  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OUTREACH  
i. Technical assistance  
28. The Secretariat offers technical assistance and training adapted to the evolving needs of 
acceding governments in different stages of the accession process. Their e ffective participation in 
accession negotiations is one of four Key Results identified by the Bi ennial Technical Assistance and 
Training Plan s.7 The Plan grants priority attention to LDCs , including acceding LDCs . Traditionally, 
accession -related technical assistance and capacity building focus on training for government 
officials. These activities, however, also cover outreach activities for Parliamentarians, the private 
sector, academia, civil society, and the media.   
29. In 2020, 23 acceding governments  and Turkmenistan  (Observer)8 were invited to participate 
in technical -assistance and capacity -building activities, including activities  held at the global, 
regional and national levels , as well as in  e-learning  courses . However, many activities were 
cancelled, postponed or converted to virtual delivery due to the C OVID -19 related restrictions. In  the 
period under review, the Accessions Division was involved in the delivery of 27 technical  assistance 
activities, including 21 delivered through virtual platforms.9 These included, inter alia: (i) technical 
missions; (ii)  targeted national training sessions and seminars; and (iii) participation in conferences. 
Since the closure of the WTO premises and the introduction of travel restrictions, t he virtual 
platforms – Zoom and Google Drive  – were used extensively for training delivery , which proved to 
be a cost -effective and efficient way to deliver technical assistance  and training . This was particular ly 
true for the first Accessions Week  held on 29 June to 3 July  which attracted over 850 participants .   
30. Specifically, the Accessions Division, including in collaboration with other Secretariat Divisions 
and/or other institutions, provided tailor -made technical assistance and advice to Azerbaijan,  
Belarus,  Curaçao,  Ethiopia, Sudan , Timor -Leste , Turkmenistan  and Uzbekistan :   
i. At the request  of the Government of Azerbaijan, the Secretariat participated in the final 
conference of an EU -funded project on WTO accession  on 21 January,  in Baku. The 
Secretariat (i) provided a presentation  on the benefi ts of WTO accession for Azerbaijan, the 
state of play in the accession process, and the way forward; and (ii) met with relevant 
government officials ; 
 
ii. At the request of the Government of Belarus, the Secretariat conducted two  virtual  training 
sessions on : (i) the SPS and Trade Facilitation Agreements and on (ii) pricing policies , during 
the week of the 30 November and on the 15 and 17 December, respectively;  
 
iii. At the request of the Government of Curaçao , the Secretariat participated in a webinar for 
the National Export Awareness Week on 19 May. The Secretariat also delivered six virtual 
training sessions10, from 9 October to 27 November,  on: (i) overview of the accessions 
process; (ii) trade facilitation; (iii) licensing procedures; (iv) customs valuation; (v) 
quantitative restrictions; and (vi) customs duties, fees and charges, and internal taxes ; 
 
iv. At the request of the Government of Ethiopia, the Secretariat organized a  Round Table with 
former Chief Negotiators , in Genev a, on 31 January , and a virtual training session on trading 
 
7 The latest plan for 2020 -21 is contained in document WT/COMTD/W/248/Rev.1 . 
8 Turkmenistan bec ame a WTO observer on 22 July.  
9 In total, approximately 1, 800 participants, including non -acceding government participants , took part 
in these activities . 
10 On 9 October (Overview of the accession process); 16 October (Trade facilitation); 30 October 
(Licensing procedures); 6 November (Customs valuation); 20 November (Quantitative restrictions); and 27 
November (Customs duties, fees and charges, and internal taxes).   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  rights, on 28 September. The main objective of the activities was to assist Ethiopia in 
familiarizing itself with the experiences of concluded accessions11 and in the preparation of 
responses to q uestions raised by Members following the 4th Working Party meeting ; 
 
v. At the request of the Government of Sudan, on the margins  of the Working Party 
Chairperson's visit to Khartoum on 26 -27 January , the Secretariat conducted a technical 
assessment of access ion documentation, notably the Factual Summary of Points Raised and 
the Legislative Action Plan, and identified areas for updates required to resume the Working 
Party process;  
 
vi. At the request of the Government of Timor -Leste, ten virtual training sessions12 were 
organized, from 20 July to 5 November,  on: (i) agriculture; (ii) market access offers on 
goods and services  (five sessions) ; (iii) accessions checklists and questionnaires; (iv) import 
licensing; (v) subsidies and state trading; and (vi) regional tr ade agreements ; 
 
vii. At the request of  the Government of Turkmenistan , the Secretariat : (i) participat ed in the 
OSCE seminar on "WTO Membership as a Balance of Rights and Obligations: The Best 
Practices of the OSCE participating states", on 4 September, and (ii) organiz ed a Seminar 
on the preparation of the Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR), on 
15 December , jointly with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) ; 
 
viii. At the request of the Government of Uzbekistan, the Secretariat organised a specialised 
training on trade in services in Geneva on 23 -24 January for the visiting delegation from 
Tashkent. The main objective of the trainin g was to enhance the delegation's knowledge of 
the GATS and to assist Uzbekistan in preparing its revised market access offer on services.  
The Secretariat also conducted three virtual training sessions on (i) bilateral market access 
negotiations on trade i n goods and services, including a round table with former accession 
negotiators, on 16 July; (ii) state trading on 24 July; and (iii) subsidies rules and notifications 
on 28 September . Furthermore , the Secretariat, in collaboration with ITC, organised a vi rtual 
workshop on trade -related aspect of intellectual property rights on 30 November -2 
December 2020.  
 
31. In 2020, two global activities were organised through the Zoom platform: (i) the Accessions 
Week and (ii) the Virtual Training on Agriculture  in the WTO . From 29 June to 3 July , the Secretariat 
organized the first WTO Accessions Week13, which compris ed ten 90 -minute webinar sessions. 
The topics of the webinars included: (i) the present and future value of WTO membership; (ii) an 
overview of acc essions; (iii) bilateral market access negotiations on goods; (iv) dialogues focused 
on specific regions/groups - Eurasia, Arab region and LDCs; and (iv) roundtables with key accession 
players - Chief Negotiators, Working Party Chairpersons, development pa rtners and the private 
sector (co -organized with ITC). The sessions emphasised the key benefits of WTO accessions as a 
catalys t for economic reforms and the critical roles played by the Chairpersons, the Chief 
Negotiators, the WTO Secretariat, regional ins titutions, development partners and the private sector 
in advancing the accession process, addressing capacity constraints of acceding LDCs, and preparing 
for post -accession.  The week -long event was attended by a total of 857 participants,  including 121 
from acceding governments,  virtually connected from different parts of the world.  
32. The Accessions Division and the Agriculture and Commodities Division  jointly organised a 6-
day training course for acceding governments on Agriculture in the WTO, in collaboration with the 
ITC, from 12 October to 22 October. The training comprised five sessions of lectures and one 
experience -sharing session with past and present accession negotiators.14 The objective of the 
course was to acquaint participants with conc epts and issues on agriculture in accession 
negotiations, to familiarize them with various accession -specific documents related to agriculture, 
and to enhance knowledge of agricultural commitments in accessions. 49 participants registered for 
the course, f rom 9 acceding governments.  
 
11 Russian Federation (2012), Yemen (2014) and Kazakhstan (2015).  
12 On 20 July (A griculture ); 23 July  (Market access offer on goods ); 30 July, 27 August, 1 September, 9 
September (Market access offer on services) ; 12 August (A ccessions checklists and questionnaires ); 7 September 
(import licensing ); 8 September (Subsidies and state trading ); and 5 November  (Regional trade agreements ). 
13 https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/accweek20_e.htm  
14 From Belarus  as well as  Kazakhstan  (2015) , Russian Federation  (2012)  and Tajikistan  (2013).   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  ii. Outreach  
33. The Secretariat continued to support informal groups linked to accessions , including the 
Informal Group of Acceding Governments (IGAG) and the g7+ WTO Accession Group . The Secretariat 
also organised regionally focu sed outreach activities, which aim at mobilizing acceding governments' 
efforts in pursuing WTO accession , in collaboration with partners with interest in accessions.  
34. The IGAG, which comprises all acceding governments  and Turkmenistan (which joined the 
Group in 2020 ), held five meetings .15 This group , launched in 2018 , is currently coordinated by 
Belarus.  In 2020, the Group discussed, among others: (i) accessions and the COVID -19 pandemic; 
(ii) accession -specific technical assistance in the context of the pandemic; (iii) accessions and 
ongoing WTO negotiations (fisheries  subsidies  and Joint Initiatives).     
35. The g7+ WTO Accessions Group, which comprises  nine fragile and conflict -affected LDCs 
associated with WTO accession,16 held three meetings in 2020 .17 The Group , launched in 2017 , 
continued to be coordinated by Afghanistan  in 2020 . Issues covered in 2020 included: (i) a joint 
ministerial statement ; (ii) the impact of COVID -19 on fragile conflict -affected countries;  and (iii) 
coordinat ion of the Group.  In addition, on 4 December, the Group participated in the 2020 Trade for 
Peace Week with a dedicated s ession on "Trade in times of COVID -19: Experiences of Fragile and 
Conflict -Affected States", organized in collaboration with the g7+ Secretariat. The session focused 
on the impact of the  COVID -19 pandemic on the economies of FCA states, and the counter  measures 
aimed to combat it. It discussed the steps necessary to build resilien ce, including the need to 
minimize trade disruptions by preserving free trade and to pursue WTO membership.  
36. In 2020, the Secretariat organised two regionally focused dialogues, one on Africa and another 
on the Arab region, where a large number of  acceding governments are located . The 3rd Regional 
Dialogue on WTO Accessions for Africa18 took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 12 to 14 February  
2020, organized in partnership with the Government of Ethiopia, the African Union Commission  
(AUC), the Internation al Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 
(UNECA) and the World Bank.19 Under the theme "Deepening Economic Integration in Africa through 
WTO Membership and AfCFTA Implementation ", the Dialogue focused on: (i) Africa and the 
multilateral trading system; (ii) assessment of the economic impact of market opening; (iii) 
maximizing the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through WTO Accession; 
(iv) WTO Accession and the AfCFTA: building synergies on sub stance and process; and (vi) 
engagement with domestic and international stakeholders. The Dialogue was attended by 
77 participants, including government officials and private sector representatives from seven 
acceding governments (Algeria, Comoros, Equator ial Guinea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and 
Sudan).20  
37. The first R egional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Arab Region21, organised in 
collaboration with the Arab Monetary Fund and the Islamic Development Bank  took place virtually, 
from 8 to 10 Novemb er 2020 . Under the theme "Arab Perspectives on WTO Accessions and the 
Multilateral Trading System ", the Dialogue focused on : (i) increasing participants ' knowledge of the 
WTO accession process, accession -related rules, and the state -of-play of Arab accessi ons; (ii) 
experience -sharing from the accession process by acceding governments and Article XII members; 
and (iii) identifying  and mobiliz ing technical assistance to facilitate and accelerate ongoing Arab 
accessions in collaboration with development partners.  The activity was attended by over 45 senior 
officials from seven Arab governments (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanese Republic, Oman, Palestine, Somalia 
and Sudan).  
 
15 In 2020, the IGAG met on 16 January, 30 April, 9 June, 21 September and 20 November , and the last 
four meetings were held through virtual platforms . 
16 Three Article XII Members (Afghanistan, Liberia, Yeme n) and six acceding governments (Comoros, Sao 
Tomé and Principe, Somalia, South Sudan , Sudan  and Timor -Leste).  For more information see: 
https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news17_e/minis_10dec17_e.htm   
17 The Group met on 2 March, 20 May and 15 December, and the last two meetings were held through 
virtual formats.  
18 https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/3rdreginaldialacc19_e.htm   
19 The outcome document has been circulated under WT/ACC/37.  
20 Other participants of the Dialogue i ncluded representatives of  WTO Members, international 
organizations , development partners  and external experts.  
21 https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/highlevelac carreg2020_e.htm    WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  38. On 30 September,  the Secretariat  organised a panel session entitled "Harnessing T rade as a 
Means for Strengthening Agenda 2030/SDGs – the Case of WTO Accession" , jointly with the UNECE 
and the Permanent Missions of Belarus and Kazakhstan , as part of  the Geneva Trade Week . 
The panel consisted of current and former accession negotiators from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Kazakhstan, the United States and Uzbekistan. The  panel discussed the linkages between WTO 
accessions and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  
iii.  China's LDCs  and Accessions Programme (The China Programme)  
39. The " China's  LDCs and Accessions Programme" (the China  Programme) was established by 
the Government of China and the WTO on 14  July 2011.22 The China Programme is aimed at 
strengthening LDCs' participation in the WTO and at assisting acceding  governments in joining the 
WTO. Out of the five pillars , the Accessions Division is responsible for the implementation of Pillar I 
"WTO Accessions Internship Programme "; and Pillar II "Annual China Round Tables on WTO 
Accessions ".23  
40. Under the WTO Accessions Internship Programme (Pilla r I), eight interns worked in the 
Accessions Division in the year under review.24 Of the 3 6 interns that have participated in the 
Programme since its launch  in 2011 , 14 have been from LDCs and 22 from non -LDCs.25 Twelve men 
and twenty -four women have parti cipated in the Programme. The breakdown of interns per region 
is presented in Figure 1.  
Figure 1: China Programme interns by region (2012 -2020)  
 
41. Under Pillar II, the Secretariat organized the 9 th China Round  Table on WTO Accessions on 11 
December , in a virtual format, livestreamed from the WTO headquarters in Geneva. Th e  Round 
Table  reviewed and paid tribute to the contribution of 25 years of WTO Accessions  and discussed 
the road ahead by highlighting remaining  accession  challenges, emerging best practices and 
exploring how the process could be made more effective, including with respect to the accession of 
 
22 On 1 December , China and the WTO signed the eighth  renewal and extension of the Programme , with 
a contribution of US$500,000  (https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pre s20_e/pr865_e.htm ).  
23 More background and information on the five pillars can be found here: 
https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/china_programme_e.htm . 
24 The 20 20 China WTO Accession s Internship Programme participants were drawn from Belarus, China, 
Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.  
25 An overview of former and current participants, including alumni stories, can be found here: 
https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_ e/acc_e/pillar1_e.htm . 
6
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CEECAC Africa Europe
Asia Arab & Middle East Latin America WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  LDCs.26 The Round Table  was organized around two sessions : (i) "25 Years of WTO Accessions in 
Review: Reflections, Celebrations, and Lessons Le arned "; and (ii) "The Future of WTO Accessions - 
Can We Achieve Universality in the Next 10 Years? ". 27 The China Round  Table was attended by 159 
participants.  
III. STATE OF PLAY IN ACCESSION WORKING PARTIES  
42. WTO accession negotiations advance on the basis of two or three tracks — with multilateral, 
bilateral, and in some cases, plurilateral processes running in parallel. Separately, there are domestic 
processes in the acceding governments to estab lish national negotiating positions and to decide on 
inputs. In 2020, the COVID -19 pandemic had impacted the technical work of many acceding 
governments , and progress was mixed in the 23 ongoing accessions. In addition,  as in the past,  a 
range of factors  remain in play. They include, but are not limited to, ongoing negotiations  with 
Members; technical complexities; domestic challenges; political choices to delay for more impact 
analysis; re -ordered priorities; and/or post -conflict situati ons. This section provides the state of play 
on the ongoing accessions, as of December 20 20. More details of the state of play are provided and 
regularly updated in the Accessions Newsletter.  
Table 1: Current accessions by general status  
General Status  Accession  
Strategic focus  Bosnia and Herzegovina , Comoros*  
Work in progress  Azerbaijan,  The Bahamas,  Belarus , Ethiopia*, South 
Sudan*, Sudan* , Timor -Leste* , Uzbekistan  
Reactivation  Iraq, Lebanese Republic, Serbia  
Activation  Curaçao, Equatorial Guinea, Somalia*  
Inactive  Algeria,  Andorra, Bhutan*, Iran, Libya, Sao Tomé 
and Principe*, Syrian Arab Republic  
*LDC s. 
"Strategic focus" indicates accessions which could be concluded in 202 1, based on the level of technical 
advancement of the dossiers.  
"Work in progress" indicates technical advancement and regular exchange of information with WTO Members 
and the Secretariat.  
"Reactivation" indicates exchange of information with the Secretariat and/or WTO Members with the obje ctive of 
early resumption of activities at the level of the Working Party after a period of dormancy/inactivity.  
"Activation" indicates exchange of information with the Secretariat with the objective to begin the Working Party 
process.  
"Inactive" indicate s no activities at the level of the Working Party for at least three years.  
43. Algeria : Algeria submitted a request for accession in June 1987. The Working Party was 
established in June 1987  and held its first meeting in 1998. The 12th meeting of the Working Party 
was held in March  2014. To date, six bilateral market access agreements have been signed and 
deposited with the Secretariat . Bilateral negotiations are ongoing with several interested Members . 
Multilateral negotiations are based  on the third revision of the draft Working Party Report circulated 
in February  2014. The 13th meeting of the Working Party will be convened subject to the submission 
of required negotiating inputs.  
44. Andorra : Andorra appl ied for WTO accession in July 1997. The Working Party was established  
in October 1997. The Working Party held its first and only meeting in October 1999. This accession 
process is inactive, and there are no indications of any intention to re -start the proc ess.  
45. Azerbaijan : Azerbaijan applied for WTO accession in June 1997. The Working Party was 
established in July 1997 and held its first meeting in 2002. The 14th meeting of the Working Party 
was held in July 2017. To date, four bilateral market access agree ments have been signed and 
 
26 Over 100 officials took part on -line in the half -day Round Table . They included the Chief Negotiators 
and experts from 15 observer governments as well as representatives from 19 Article XII Members. Other 
participants included repr esentatives of original Members, Working Party Chairpersons and experts from partner 
institutions. Attendance was also open to the  general  public through a YouTube livestream.  
27 The report of the 9th China Round Table will be issued in the WT/ACC document series. In addition, b oth 
sessions can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQLfJLgqHbc&feature=youtu.be    WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  deposited with the Secretariat, while bilateral negotiations are ongoing with several interested 
Members. Multilateral negotiations are underway on the basis of the third revision of the draft 
Working Party Report circulated in M ay 2017. The 15th meeting of the Working Party is envisaged  
for the first half of 2021,  following the circulation of required negotiating inputs . 
46. The Bahamas : The Bahamas applied for WTO accession in May 2001. The Working Party was 
established in July 2001  and held its first meeting in 2010. The fourth meeting of the Working Party 
was held in April 2019. To date, one bilateral market access agreement has been concluded , while 
bilateral negotiations are ongoing with several interested Members . On the multilateral level, the 
Working Party agreed to transform the Factual Summary of Points Raised into an Elements of a draft 
Working Party Report.  The fifth meeting will be convened subject to the submission of required 
negotiating inputs.  
47. Belarus : Belarus submitted a request for accession in September 1993. The Working Party 
was established in October 1993 and held its first meeting in 1997. Following a period of inactivity, 
during which no formal Working Party meetings were held between 20 05 and 2016, the Working 
Party resumed its work in January 2017. The most recent (12th) meeting took place in July 2019. 
The 13th meeting, which had originally been scheduled for March 2020, had to be postponed due to 
the Covid -19 pandemic. To date, 16 sig ned bilateral market access agreements have been deposited 
with the Secretariat. Bilateral negotiations are ongoing with a limited number of Members. 
Multilateral negotiations are underway on the basis of the fourth revision of the draft Working Party 
Report.   
48. Bhutan : Bhutan applied for WTO accession in September 1999. The Working Party was 
established in October 1999  and held its first meeting in 2004. The fourth meeting of the Working 
Party was held in January 2008. The first version of the draft Working  Party Report was circulated 
in December 2007. The most recent market access offers on goods and services were circulated in 
November 2007. There has been no activity in the Working Party since the fourth meeting .  
49. Bosnia and Herzegovina : Bosnia and Herzeg ovina applied for WTO accession in May 1999. 
The Working Party was established in July 1999  and held its first meeting in 2003. The 13th meeting 
of the Working Party was held in February 2018. To date, 16 bilateral market access agreements 
have been signed  and deposited with the Secretariat, while bilateral negotiation is outstanding with 
one Member . Multilateral negotiations are underway on the basis of the eighth revision of the draft 
Working Party Report circulated in October 2017. The 14th meeting will be convened after the 
conclusion of the remaining bilateral market access negotiation .  
50. Comoros : Comoros applied for WTO accession in March  2007. The Working Party was 
established in October 2007 and held its first meeting in December 2016. T he fifth meeting was held 
in September 2020 . To date, three bilateral market access agreements have been signed and 
deposited with the Secretariat . Bilateral negotiations are reportedly ongoing with four Members. 
Multilateral negotiations are ongoing on th e basis of the first revision of the  draft Working Party 
Report circulated in  June 2020 . The sixth meeting is envisaged for the second quarter of 202 1, 
following the submission of required negotiating inputs . 
51. Curaçao : Curaçao  applied for WTO accession in O ctober 2019. The Working Party was 
established in March 2020. No Working Party meeting has been held to date. Curaçao  is currently 
preparing the Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime .  
52. Equatorial Guinea : Equatorial Guinea applied for WTO accession in March 2007. The Working 
Party was established in February 2008. No  Working Party meeting has been held to date .  Equatorial 
Guinea is currently preparing the Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime . 
53. Ethiopia : Ethiopia applied for WTO accession in January 2003. The Working Party was 
established in February 2003  and held its first meeting in May 2008 . The fourth  meeting of the 
Working Party was held on 30 January 2020 . Bilateral negotiations are ongoing with sever al 
interested Members. On the multilateral level, the Working Party agreed to transform the Factual 
Summary of Points Raised to an Elements of the draft Report of the Working Party.  The fifth meeting 
is envisaged for 2021, subject to  the submission of requ ired negotiating inputs .  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  54. Islamic Republic of Iran : The Islamic Republic of Iran applied for WTO accession in July  1996.  
The Working Party was established in May 2005. Following the circulation of the Memorandum on 
the Foreign Trade Regime in November  2009, Iran submitted t echnical inputs, including replies to 
Members' questions on the Memorandum, in 2011. The first meeting of the Working Party  will be 
convened , following consultations of the Chairperson of the General Council with Members on the 
designation  of a Chairperson of the Working Party. The Islamic Republic of Iran is subject to Category 
I administrative measures.28 
55. Iraq: Iraq applied for WTO accession in September 2004. The Working Party was established 
in December 2004 and held its first meeting in 2007. The second meeting of the Working Party was 
held in April  2008 and an informal meeting of the Working Party was held in  November 2017. 
In preparation for the third meeting of the Working Party, an updated MFTR was circulated in 
February 2018. The  third meeting will be convened following the submission of required negotiating 
inputs.  
56. Lebanese Republic : The Lebanese Republic  applied for WTO accession in January 1999. 
The Working Party was established in April 1999 and held its first meeting in 2002. The seventh 
meeting of the Working Party was held in October  2009. In preparation for the eighth meeting of 
the Working Party, u pdated negotiating inputs, as well as the second revision of the draft Working 
Party Report, were circulated in April -June 2017. The eighth meeting will be convened subject to the 
submission of revised market access offers on goods and services.   
57. Libya : Libya applied for WTO accession in June 2004. The Working Party was established in 
September 2004. No Working Party meeting has been held to date as  Libya has not submitted any 
inputs to initiate the process. Libya is subject to Category  III administrative measures.29 
58. Sao Tomé and Principe : Sao Tomé and Principe  applied for WTO accession in February  2005. 
The Working Party was established in June 2005. No Working Party meeting has been held to date 
as Sao Tomé and Principe  has not submitted  any inputs to ini tiate the process of accession 
negotiations. Sao Tomé and Principe  is subject to Category III administrative measures.30  
59. Serbia : Serbia applied for WTO accession in December 2004. The Working Party was 
established in February 2005  and held its first meeting in 2005. The 13th meeting of the Working 
Party was held in June  2013. To date, 13 bilateral market access agreements have been signed and 
deposited with the Secretariat , while b ilateral market access negotiations remain with a l imited 
number of Members. Multilateral negotiations are based on  the seven th revision of the draft Working 
Party Report circulated in October  2012. The 14th meeting will be convened subject to outstanding 
domestic legislative action and the submission of r equired negotiating inputs.  
60. Somalia : Somalia applied for WTO accession in  November 2016 . The Working Party was 
established in December 2016.  No Working Party meeting has been held to date . In May 2020, the 
Memorandum o n Foreign Trade Regime was circulated to all Members of the WTO.  The first meeting 
of the Working Party will be convened subject to the Somalia´s submission of required inputs . 
Somalia is subject to Category II I administrative measures.31 
61. South Sudan : South Sudan applied for WTO accession in D ecember 2017. The Working Party 
was established in December 2017  and held its first meeting in March 2019. The second meeting of 
the Working Party will be convened subject to South Sudan's submission of required inputs.  
62. Sudan : Sudan applied for WTO accession in October 1994. The Working Party was established 
in October 1994 and held its first meeting in 2003. After years of dormancy, the Working Party 
resumed its work in January 2017. The fourth meeting of the Working Party was held in July 2017. 
To date, three bilateral market access agreements have been signed and deposited with the 
Secretariat, while bilateral market access negotiations are ongoing with several interested Members. 
Multilateral negotiations are ongoing on the b asis of a revised Factual Summary of Points Raised 
 
28 As of December 2020.  
29 As of December 2020.  
30 As of Decembe r 2020.  
31 As of December 2020.   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 15 - 
 
  circulated in January 2019. The  fifth meeting will be convened subject to the submission of required 
negotiating inputs.  
63. Syrian Arab Republic : The Syrian Arab Republic applied for WTO accession in October  2001. 
The Working Party was established in May 2010. No Working Party meeting has been held to date 
as the Syrian Arab Republic has not submitted any negotiating inputs to initiate the process. The 
Syrian Arab Republic is subject to Category I administrat ive measures.32 
64. Timor -Leste : Timor -Leste applied for WTO accession in November 2016. The  Working Party 
was established in December 2016  and held its first meeting on 1 October 2020 . The Working Party 
reviewed the Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime and mandated the Secretariat to prepare 
a Factual Summary of Points Raised. The second meeting is envisaged for  the first half of 2021,  
subject to  the submission of required inputs . 
65. Uzbekistan : Uzbekistan applied for WTO accession in December 1994. The Working  Party was 
established in December 1994 and held its first meeting in 2002. The fourth meeting of the Working 
Party took place in July 2020. Bilateral negotiations are ongoing with several interested Members. 
On the multilateral level, the Working Party ma ndated the Secretariat to produce a Factual Summary 
of Points Raised. The fifth meeting is envisaged for the first half of  2021 subject to the submission 
of outstanding negotiating inputs.  
66. Figure 2 provides a snapshot of the state of play in accession negotiations , as of 31 December 
2020. 
Figure 2: State  of play in ongoing accession negotiations  
 
IV. ACCESSIONS  OF LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
67. Since the establishment of the WTO, nine Members have acceded as LDCs pursuant to 
Article  XII of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the  WTO.33 Currently, eight LDCs are in the 
process of WTO accession.  
 
32 As of December 2020.  
33 Article XII Members that acceded to the WTO as LDCs were: Afghanistan (2016) , Cabo Verde  (2008) , 
Cambodia (2004) , Lao PDR (2013) , Liberia (2016) , Nepal (2004) , Samoa (2012) , Vanuatu (2012) , and Yemen 
(2014) .  Cabo Verde and Samoa graduated from LDC status in 2008 and 2014, respectively.  
 WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 16 - 
 
  68. In 2020, acceding LDCs remained active despite the COVID -19 pandemic. LDC accessions 
accounted for 75 % of the Working Party meetings held in 2020. Comoros  resumed  the Working 
Party after 2.5 years by holding its fifth meeting in September. Ethiopia  reactivated its accession 
process , after nearly 8 years,  with t he fourth  meeting of the Working Party in January. Timor -Leste , 
whose Working Party was established in Dec ember 2016 , held the first  meeting in October. An 
important milestone was achieved in the accession of Somalia  with the submission of the MFTR (see 
more detailed information in Section III "State of in play in Accession Working Parties") . 
69. In line with Memb ers' priority given to LDC accessions, the Secretariat continued to give 
focused attention to the ongoing LDC accessions with a view to facilitating and accelerating their 
negotiations. Since 2002, the Secretariat has p rovide d regular briefings on the stat e of play in the 
accessions of LDCs to the Sub -Committee on LDCs , including at its 89th session held on 11 November 
2020. In 2012, the General Council adopted an Addendum to document WT/L/508 to strengthen, 
streamline and operationalize the 2002 LDC Accession Guidelines.  In addition, the Secretariat 
extends its support to the g7+ WTO Accessions Group, which comprises fragile and conflict -affected 
LDCs associated with WTO accessions  (for more information see paragraph 35).  
70. Members are mindful of these Guidelines in ongoing active LDC accessions , and their 
importance in facilitating negotiations with LDCs has been underscored .  
71. Members have also continued providing technical support for LDC accessions,  among them  
China (including through the "China's LDCs and Accessions Programme ", especially through the WTO 
Accessions Internship Programme ;34 see "Technical Assistance and Outrea ch" section), the European 
Union (including through its individual Member States), Japan, Oman, New Zealand, the Russian 
Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. Some Members provide technical assistance 
via national institutions and programme s, while others use platforms such as the Enhanced 
Integrated Framework (EIF), which also offers a capacity building platform for acceding LDCs.  
V. "TRADE FOR PEACE THROUGH WTO ACCESSIONS " INITIATIVE  
72. The "Trade for Peace  through WTO Accessions " (T4P) Initiative was launched in 2017 to assist 
fragile and conflict -affected (FCA) countries in working towards peace through WTO accession with 
an emphasis on institution -building based on the principles of non -discrimination, predictability, 
transparency and the rule of law. The T4P initiative also aims to facilitate collaboration between the 
trade, peace  and humanitarian communities.35 
73. In 2020, t he Secretariat continued to support FCA countries, including those in the g7+ WTO 
Accessions Group  (see under  Section 5(ii) Outreach ). The COVID -19 pandemic has highlighted the 
importance of the partnership under the Initiative in responding to the special challenges and needs 
of FCA acceding governments which remain committed to use trade integration as a tool to promote 
inclusive and sustainable peace.  In response, the Secretariat organised the first edition of the Trade 
for Peace Week, building on the earlier activities organised in partnership with different partners.  
74. The Trade for Peace Week36 took place virtually from 30 November to 4 December. 
Ten webinar sessions , organised in collaboration with different partners37, were delivered via the 
Zoom  platform . Topics covered included the use of technology to promote T4P; the role of business 
in peacebuilding; empirical evidence on trade, conflict and peace; trade, job creation and peace; the 
role of tra de in humanitarian crisis; T4P in COVID -19, and synergies between regional integration 
and WTO accessions. Some sessions focused on specific countries or regions in accession, i.e. Iraq, 
Libya, Yemen and the Horn of Africa. The Trade for Peace Week brought  together 59 panellists, 
representing 32 organisations and 15 countries , and was attended by 450 participants .  
75. Prior to the Trade for Peace Week, o n 16 June, the Secretariat organized a webinar on "Trade 
for Peace: Leveraging Trade in COVID -19 Responses f or Positive Peace", in collaboration with the 
 
34 To date, 14 of the 36  interns were drawn from LDCs, including three from acceding LDCs  (Ethiopia, 
Somalia and Timor -Leste ) and three from Article  XII LDCs  (Afghanistan, Liberia and Yemen ). 
35 https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/tradeforpeace_e.htm   
36 https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/t4peace2020_e.htm   
37 UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries, International Trade Centre, International Chamber 
of Commerce, Inte rnational Labour Organization, World Bank, Interpeace, g7+ Secretariat and g7+ WTO 
Accessions Group.   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP ).38 The webinar explored how trade and business could 
contribute to building positive peace, as well as the attitudes, structures and institutions that 
underpin and sustai n peaceful societies.  
76. On 27 October, the Secretariat also participated in the Geneva Peace Week 2020  and 
contributed a briefing on the Trade for Peace initiative at the session titled "Trade for Peace: 
Pathways from aid to trade and employment".  
VI.  WTO ACCESSIONS AND REGIONAL TRADE INTEGRATION  
1. INTRODUCTION  
77. Multilateral  and regional trade agreements are designed to regulate and liberalize  cross-border 
trade. They often share similar goals, including to: enhance market access; support domestic 
reforms; promote economic growth; increase transparency, predictability and goo d governance; 
strengthen international cooperation; and promote peace and security.  
78. Since  the establishment of the WTO in 1995, RTAs have risen in number, reaching 338 
agreements notified to the WTO as of 31 December 2020.39 All 164 WTO Members are party to at 
least one RTA. RTAs which go significantly further than multilateral market access commitments 
contribute to further liberalization and increase trade flows between participants.40 Some RTAs also 
go beyond the WTO framework  to deepen and expand on behind-the-border regulations,  such as 
investment and competition policy, or to tackle so -called new trade issues, such as e -commerce.   
79. In accession negotiations, applicants are typically expected to undertake an accession -specific 
commitment to observe the WTO rules on RTAs  (see Box 1) . Such commitments, with some textual 
variations, have been und ertaken by 33 out of 36 Article XII Members in their Accession Protocols.  
Upon accession, new  Member s are also expected to notify RTAs in the WTO.  
Box 1 - WTO rules on RTAs  
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) are reciprocal preferential trade agreements between two or more 
partners. These arrangements have been authorized, as an exception, under the GATT and the WTO, and 
are subjected to three sets of rules. These include: (i) Article XXIV of GATT 1994; (ii) the Enabling Clause; 
and, (iii) Article V of the GATS. RTAs must cover substantially all trade, unless they are under the Enabling 
Clause, and help trade flow more freely among partners without raising barriers to trade with the outside 
world.41  
Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 distinguishes between free trade areas (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs) 
based on internal and external conditions criteria, i.e.,: (i) free trade areas mean a group of customs 
territories in which the duties and other trade -restrictive regulations are eliminated on trade between their 
parties in products originating in such parties; and, (ii) customs unions are understood as being the 
substitution of a single customs territory for two or more customs territories where duties and other trade -
restrictive regulations are eliminated with respect to trade between their members while  members apply 
substantially the same duties and trade regulations with respect to third parties.42 Interim agreements 
leading to one or the other are also possible . If the formation of an RTA results in increasing the WTO 
bound rate of duty of a Member, other Members need to be compensated through the procedure set forth 
in GATT Article XXVIII ("Modification of Schedules").43 
 
38 The video recording is available here: Trade for Peace - Leveraging trade in COVID -19 response, using 
Positiv e Peace on Vimeo  (https://vimeo.com/434962492 )  
39 See WTO's Regional Trade Agreements Database: https://rtais.wto.org/UI/publicsummarytable.aspx . 
The number of notifications submitted by Members is higher ( 496) as WTO rules require two separate notifications 
for RTAs covering goods and services, as well as notifications on accessions to RTAs.  
40 For example, according to a 2020 projectio n, the Regiona l Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) 
signed on 15 November 2020 is expected to add US$186 billion to the size of the global economy. (Source:  
https://www.piie.com/system/files/docum ents/wp20 -9.pdf) 
41 "…purpose of a customs union or of a free -trade area should be to facilitate trade between the 
constituent territories and not to raise barriers to the trade of other contracting parties with such territories" 
(Article XXIV:4 of the GATT 1994).  
42 Article XXIV:8(a) of the GATT 1994.  
43 Article XXIV:6 of the GATT 1994.   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  The Enabling Clause  refers to preferential trade arrangements in goods between developing country 
Members. It opens the door for generalized, non -reciprocal and no n-discriminatory preferences beneficial 
to developing countries offered by other developed countries. The Clause allows the formation of Partial 
Scope Agreements (PSA).  
Article  V of the GATS  deals with provisions on Economic Integration Agreements (EIAs ), which refers to 
RTAs in the area of services. The GATS provisions govern the conc lusion of RTAs covering trade in services, 
for both developed and developing countries. It involves a set of internal and external conditions requiring 
that trade liberalization among the parties of such agreements should have a substantial sectoral 
covera ge,44 provides for the absence or elimination of substantially all discrimination between or among 
the parties, while non -parties should not face a higher overall level of barriers with respect to the level 
applicable prior to the establishment of the RTA.45   
All RTAs need to be notified to the WTO for transparency purposes.  
80. Currently, all acceding governments participate in , or are negotiat ing, one or more RTAs.  
The issues covered and discussed in RTAs have an impact on WTO accessions, whose main objective 
is to bring applicants' trade regimes in line with the WTO Agreements. The relationship between 
WTO accession and regional integration has thus become a topical iss ue for acceding governments. 
While governments may have different motivation s for engag ing in regional trade arrangements and 
for participating in the multilateral trading system,  it is important that their RTA and WTO accession 
efforts are  coordinated in terms of policy, strategy and institutional arrangements.   
81. This thematic section provides an overview of the RTAs in which acceding governments are 
involved and explores the potential  implications of their parallel pursuit of multilateral and regional 
integration efforts. It builds  on, inter alia , the discussions  at the 8th China Round Table held in 
Moscow, Russian Federation, in December 2019, and the Third Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions 
for Africa, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February 2020.46 The section concludes with a set of 
recommendations aimed at helping acceding governments maximis e the benefits from their 
participation in multiple trade arrangements.  
2.  PARTICIPATION OF ACCEDING GOVERNMENTS IN RTAS  
82. Table 2 provides  an overview of acceding governments ' participation  in RTAs with the 
involvement of more than two participants47, as notified to the WTO or based on the information 
communicated by acceding governments in accessio n documentation. The table indicates that all 23 
acceding governments48 either participate in or are in the process of negotiating at least one RTA . 
This is equally prominent in all regions of the world.49 
Table 2: Over view of RTA engagement by WTO accedin g governments  
Acceding 
Government  WP 
established  Engagement in RTAs  
Membership  In negotiation  
Africa  
Algeria  06/1987  African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), 
Algeria -EU FTA, Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), AfCFTA Phase II  
 
44 This condition is understood in terms of the number of services sectors, volume of trade affected and 
modes of supply. In order to meet this condition, agreements should not provide for the a priori  exclusion of any 
mode of supply.  
45 Flexibility for developing countries is inbuilt in GATS Article V:3: (a) in terms of sectoral coverage and 
with reference to the absence/elimination of discrimination; and (b) if the EIA involves only developing countries, 
more favourable treatment may be granted to juridical persons owned or controlled by natural persons of the 
parties to the RTA.  
46 The 8th China Round Table  on WTO Accessions was  held in Moscow, Russian Federation, on 4 and 5  
December 2019  under  the theme "Accessions and WTO Reform: On the Road to MC12" . Session 4 of the Round 
Table focused on " Regional Integration and WTO Accessions ". The 3rd Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for 
Africa titled " Deepening Economic Integration in Africa through WTO Membership and AfCFTA Implementation " 
took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 12 to 14 February 2020 . The reports of these events are issued in 
document s WT/ACC/35 and WT/ACC/37, respectively.  
47 Bilateral RTAs are omitted because of their large number  and space limitation, except for bilateral RTAs 
between a country and a trading bloc.  
48 As well as all 36 Article XII Members, see Annex 4.   
49 https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2020_e/wts2020chapter05_e.pdf    WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
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  Acceding 
Government  WP 
established  Engagement in RTAs  
Membership  In negotiation  
Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA)50, Global 
System of Trade Preferences (GSTP)  
Comoros  10/2007  AfCFTA, Common Market for Eastern and 
Southern Africa (COMESA), EU-Eastern and 
Southern Africa (ESA) States Interim Economic 
Partnership Agreement (EPA), South African 
Development Community (SADC)  AfCFTA Phase II  
Equatorial 
Guinea  02/2008  AfCFTA, Central African Monetary Community 
(CEMAC), Economic Community of Central 
African States (ECCAS)  AfCFTA Phase II  
Ethiopia  02/2003  AfCFTA, COMESA  African, Caribbean, 
Pacific (ACP )-EU EPA, 
AfCFTA Phase II  
Libya  07/2004  AfCFTA, AMU, COMESA, GAFTA, GSTP  AfCFTA Phase II  
Sao Tomé and 
Principe  05/2005  AfCFTA, ECCAS  AfCFTA Phase II  
Somalia  12/2016  AfCFTA , COMESA  AfCFTA Phase II  
South Sudan  12/2017  AfCFTA, East African Community (EAC)  AfCFTA Phase II  
Sudan  10/1994  AfCFTA, COMESA, GAFTA, GSTP  AfCFTA Phase II  
Asia 
Bhutan  10/1999  South Asian FTA (SAFTA), South Asian 
Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA)  Bay of Bengal 
Initiative for Multi -
Sectoral Technical and 
Economic Cooperation 
(BIMSTEC)   
Timor -Leste  12/2016   Association of 
Southeast Asian 
Nations (ASEAN)  
Caribbean  
Bahamas  07/2001  Caribbean Community (CARICOM, services only); 
Caribbean Forum ( CARIFORUM) – EU States EPA   
  
Curaçao  03/2021  Curaçao – EU Overseas Countries and Territories 
(OCT) Preferential Treatment Arrangement   
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)  
Azerbaijan  07/1997  Economic Cooperation Organization Trade 
Agreement (ECOTA), Georgia -Ukraine -
Azerbaijan -Moldova (GUAM) FTA  Azerbaijan – EU (EPA)  
Belarus  10/1993  2011 Commonwealth of Independent States FTA 
(CIS FTA), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)   
Uzbekistan  12/1994  2011 CIS FTA, ECOTA  EAEU (observer) , 
Uzbekistan – EU (EPA)  
Europe  
Andorra  10/1997  EU-Andorra (Customs Union)   
Bosnia and 
Herzegovina 
(BIH)  07/1999  BIH-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) 
FTA, BIH -EU FTA, Central European Free Trade 
Agreement (CEFTA)  EU (Potential 
candidate)  
Serbia  02/2005  CEFTA, Serbia -EAEU FTA, Serbia -EFTA FTA, 
Serbia -EU FTA  EU (Candidate)  
Middle East  
Iran 05/2005  ECOTA, GSTP, Iran -EAEU FTA   
Iraq 12/2004  GAFTA , GSTP   
Lebanese 
Republic  04/1999  Agadir FTA, GAFTA , Lebanon -EFTA FTA, 
Lebanon -EU FTA (goods only)   
Syrian Arab 
Republic  05/2010  GAFTA   
 
Note:  The list of RTAs in the table is not exhaustive. Bilateral RTAs are omitted because of their large 
number and space limitation, except for bilateral RTAs between a country and a trading bloc. By 
virtue of participating in the listed RTAs, the governments a lso benefit from the agreements 
concluded by these RTAs (if any). Such agreements are also not listed.   
 
50 GAFTA  (Greater Arab FTA) is also referred to as PAFTA (Pan -Arab FTA).   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 20 - 
 
  83. In Africa, all nine African WTO acceding governments are signatories to the Agreement 
Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), wh ose implementation started on 
1 January 2021. As of January 2021, four of them – Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Sao 
Tomé and Principe – have already ratified the Agreement. Other RTAs where acceding governments 
are involved include the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) with five 
acceding governments (Comoros, Ethiopia, Libya, Somalia, Sudan), the Economic Community of 
Central African States (ECCAS) with two governments (Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tom é and 
Principe), t he Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) with Equatorial Guinea, the 
East African Community (EAC) with South Sudan , and the South African Development Community 
(SADC) with Comoros . In North Africa, both Algeria and Libya are part of the Arab  Maghreb Union 
(AMU), and the Greater Pan Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) , which also involves other acceding 
governments in the Middle East (Iraq, Lebanese Republic and the Syrian Arab Republic ) and Sudan. 
Some of these agreements, such as the CEMAC, the E AC and the SADC, have common external 
tariffs (CET).51   
84. In Asia, Bhutan participates in the South Asian Free Trade Area ( SAFTA) and the South Asian 
Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA). Timor -Leste is currently not part of any RTA but has applied 
to join t he Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), indicating that its WTO ac cession efforts 
are complementary to its ASEAN accession process.   
85. In the Caribbean, the Bahamas is a full member of the Caribbean Community (C ARICOM), 
although it does not partic ipate in the customs union. Curaçao, which has an observer status, applied 
to join the CARICOM in 2018. With the European Union, Curaçao benefits from the preferential 
treatment arrangements under the Overseas Association Decision52 (pursuant to Part IV of  the 
Treaty on the Functioning of the European  Union).  
86. In Europe, the EU is the main driver of regional integration. All three acceding governments 
from the region have FTAs with the EU, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) and Serbia are on the 
path to EU ac cession, although with a different status. BIH and Serbia are also part of the Central 
European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and have an FTA with the European Free Trade Association 
(EFTA). Serbia has an FTA with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)  as well . Andorra is in a customs 
union with the EU, based on the 1990 Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) 
and the Principality of Andorra.  
87. The largest RTA in the region of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is the 2011 
CIS F ree Trade Area (CIS -FTA) where Belarus and Uzbekistan are parties. The EAEU , which was 
established in 2015,  sets many of the parameters in Belarus' accession  negotiations , as it did in the 
accessions of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan which joined th e WTO in 2012 and 2015, 
respectively. Uzbekistan became observer in the EAEU in 2020. In addition, both Azerbaijan and 
Uzbekistan are currently negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU.  
88. In the Middle East, the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreem ent (GAFTA) has three WTO acceding 
government participants (Iraq, Lebanese Republic and the Syrian Arab Republic), in addition to those 
in Africa (Algeria, Libya and Sudan). Iran has an FTA with the EAEU which entered into force in 2019.  
89. Five acceding gov ernments53 also participate in the Global System of Trade Preferences 
(GSTP), a preferential trade agreement among 42 developing and least -developed countries.54 
 
51 COMESA aims at forming a customs union among its members, but a common external tariff is not yet 
implemented .  
52 EU Council Decision No. 2013/755/EU of 25 November 2013 on the association of the overseas countries 
and territories with the European Union . 
53 These are: Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, as well as one Article XII Member (Viet Nam).  
54 The GSTP was established in 1989 as a framework for preferential tariff reductions and other measures of 
cooperation, including "para -tariffs, non -tariff measures, direct trade measures including medium and long -term 
contracts and sectoral agreements", to stimulate trade between developing countries. Today, only preferential tariffs 
are covered by  the Agreement. See : https://unctad.org/topic/trade -agreements/global -system -of-trade-preferences    WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 21 - 
 
  3.  PARALLEL PURSUIT OF WTO ACCESSION AND REGIONAL TRADE INTEGRATION: 
PROCESS AND SUBSTANCE  
90. Pursuing WTO accession in parallel to participation in one or more RTAs,  including under 
negotiation, presents both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, the domestic reform 
agenda aimed at achieving WTO compliance may be supplemented and enhanced by trade 
liberalization tools provided by an RTA. On the other hand, pa rallel participation in the accession 
negotiations and in one or more RTA s may complicate or prolong the negotiating process. 
The complexities may be greater if an acceding government is in a customs union with a deeper 
level of integration. It is therefore critical to develop a framework for coordination and coherence in 
terms of policy and institutional arrangements at the domestic level to fully capture the benefits 
from the participation in multiple trade arrangements.  
91. The experience of the 36 Article XII Members which have acceded to the WTO since 1995 may 
provide guidance on how the applicants' participation in RTAs was featured  and managed in 
accession negotiations.55 Broadly speaking, there are two approaches found in the WTO accessions 
completed to date: (i) the completion of WTO accession before entering into an RTA which imposes 
deeper levels of liberalisation; or (ii) paral lel engagement in the WTO accession process and an RTA 
or RTAs which is/are either being implemented and/or negotiated. Box 2  provides an explanation of 
the possible implications of the two approaches.  
     
 
92. Article XII Members which joined or were scheduled to join the European Union after gaining 
WTO membership are examples of the first case. These included: Bulgaria , Estonia , Latvia,  Lithuania , 
and Croatia which joined the EU in 2004 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithu ania), 2007 (Bulgaria) and 2013 
(Croatia), while Albania , North Macedonia  and Montenegro are still at various stages of EU 
accession.56 In other words, over 20 % of the accessions to date are directly linked to EU accession 
which requires WTO membership as a prerequisite for joining the EU, while two additional accessions 
(BiH and Serbia) are currently on the same path. Accessions falling into the second category include, 
for instance, the accessions of the EAEU original member states  where two of the three member 
states (Russian Federation and Kazakhstan) joined the WTO after the formation of the Customs 
Union57 in 2010, or Cambodia, Lao PDR or and Viet Nam , who  had been parties to ASEAN before 
their WTO membership.   
 
55 An overview of participation by Article XII Members in such RT As is contained in Annex 4.  
56 Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia are all EU candidate countries.  
57 The Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.   
Box 2 - WTO accession and RTA participation: What com es first?  
 
 
 
OR 
 
 
1. WTO => RTA : An acceding government first negotiates its WTO accession commitments on 
rules and market access. In doing so, the government may need to take account of the 
requirements of the RTA whose membership is sought, in an effort to align the liberalisation 
levels negotiated in the context of the WTO with the ones of the RTA. The process of RTA 
accession, and the associated reforms and regulatory adjustments, would often go in parallel 
with WTO accession, and would be completed after the government becomes a WTO  Member.  
 
2. RTA => WTO : An acceding government negotiates its WTO accession commitments while 
becoming or being an RTA participant. While such participation may limit the negotiating 
capacity of an acceding government, especially in a customs union, it coul d provide an 
opportunity to make WTO -compliant adjustments in the RTA framework  in coordination with 
other RTA participants. During the accession process, acceding governments are often asked 
by the Working Party to provide RTA regulations in the fact -finding phase, to identify WTO 
consistency.   
  
WTO 
Accession   
RTA 
participation   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 22 - 
 
  93. Table 3 lists  the RTAs relevant to compl eted accessions which may provide pertinent case 
studies for current accessions. The table also outlines the scope and coverage of these RTAs, which 
are often built on the core principles of the WTO Agreements . In many cases, the  structure and 
provisions of these agreements are drawn directly from the WTO Agreements. This is most evident 
in the AfCFTA whose implementation started on 1 January 2021. Furthermore, some of these 
agreements explicitly refer to the WTO rules as the basis for their legal framework  (e.g., the EAEU). 
Some go beyond the WTO framework in  areas such as investment, competition, finance, labour, and 
the environment (e.g. the E AEU, EU).    
Table 3: Overview of main RTAs relevant to WTO accessions (as of 1 January 2021 ) 
Regional 
Trade 
Agree -
ment  Year of 
establish -
ment / 
entry into 
force  Mem -
bers 
/ 
par-
ties  
 WTO membership / accession  Coverage  
Article XII 
Members  
(year of 
membership)  Acceding 
government  
Africa  
AfCFTA  2021  54  Cabo Verde 
(2008),  
Seychelles 
(2015),  
Liberia (2016)  Algeria, Comoros, 
Libya, Equatorial 
Guinea, Ethiopia, Sao 
Tomé & Principe, 
Somalia, South 
Sudan, Sudan  Trade in goods: tariffs, RoO, 
customs cooperation, trade 
facilitation, NTBs, TBT, SPS, 
transit, trade remedies; services  
COMESA  1994 
(Preferential 
Trade Area)  
 
2000 (Free 
Trade Area)  18 Seychelles 
(2015)  Comoros, Ethiopia, 
Libya, Somalia, 
Sudan  Trade in goods: tariffs, customs, 
RoO, SPS, TBT, safeguard 
mechanisms (goods), anti -
dumping and countervailing 
measures, subsidies (goods), 
services, investment provisions, 
dispute settlement, environment, 
labour, SMEs  
Asia  
ASEAN  1992  
(ASEAN Free 
Trade Area)  
 
2015  
(ASEAN 
Economic 
Community)  10 Cambodia 
(2004), Lao 
PDR (2013), 
Viet Nam 
(2007)  In accession: Timor -
Leste  Trade in goods: tariffs, customs, 
RoO, trade facilitation, 
agriculture, SPS, TBT, safeguard 
mechanisms (goods), anti -
dumping and countervailing 
measures, services, movement of 
natural persons, mutual 
recognition, investment, 
intellectual property,  
dispute settlement  
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)  
EAEU  2010  
(Customs 
Union)  
 
2012  (Single 
Economic 
Space)  
 
2015  
(Eurasian 
Economic 
Union)  5 Armenia 
(2003), 
Kazakhstan 
(2015), Kyrgyz 
Republic 
(1998), 
Russian 
Federation 
(2012)  Belarus  Trade in goods: tariffs, customs, 
agriculture, SPS, TBT, safeguard 
mechanisms (goods), anti -
dumping an d countervailing 
measures, subsidies (goods, 
services); services, movement of 
natural persons, public 
procurement, investment, mutual 
recognition, e -commerce, 
intellectual property, dispute 
settlement, competition, 
environment, labour, SMEs   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 23 - 
 
  Regional 
Trade 
Agree -
ment  Year of 
establish -
ment / 
entry into 
force  Mem -
bers 
/ 
par-
ties  
 WTO membership / accession  Coverage  
Article XII 
Members  
(year of 
membership)  Acceding 
government  
Europe  
EU 1958  
(European 
Economic 
Community)  
 
1993  
(European 
Union)  27 Bulgaria 
(1996), Croatia 
(2000), Estonia 
(1999), Latvia 
(1999), 
Lithuania 
(2001)  
In accession:   
Albania (2000), 
Montenegro 
(2012), North 
Macedonia 
(2003)  
 In accession:  
Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Serbia  Trade in goods: tariffs, customs, 
agriculture, SPS, TBT, trade 
facilitation, anti -dumping and 
countervailing measures, 
subsidies (goods, services); 
services, movement of natural 
persons, public procurement, 
foreign direct investment, mu tual 
recognition, intellectual property, 
dispute settlement, competition, 
environment, labour, SMEs  
Middle East  
GAFTA  1998  / 2005  18 Jordan (2000), 
Oman (2000), 
Kingdom of 
Saudi Arabia 
(2005), Yemen 
(2014)  Algeria, Iraq, 
Lebanese Republic, 
Libya , Sudan, Syria  RoO, safeguard mechanisms 
(goods), balance of payment 
measures (goods), dispute 
settlement  
Source:  WTO Regional Trade Agreements database.  
94. Acceding governments are confronted with issues of sequencing, coherence and coordination 
arising from their parallel participation in RTAs. In most cases, the RTAs' legal framework has already 
been fully developed before the conclusion of WTO accession ne gotiations, e.g. ASEAN, COMESA and 
GAFTA . The coverage of the agreement also matters in relation to the WTO. Past accession 
experiences may provide useful guidance, especially in formulating WTO commitments on rules and 
market access concessions.  
95. The case of the EAEU provides a prominent example of (i) how the provisions of the WTO 
Agreements can be incorporated in the provisions of a regional economic arrangement; and (ii) how 
accession commitments can be used to accommodate for the gradual transfer of com petencies from 
the national to the regional level. The Russian Federation and Kazakhstan undertook 30 and 33 
commitments, respectively, across all sections of their Working Party Reports that touched upon the 
transfer of competencies to the level of the CU /EAEU, with the most detailed discussions occurring 
in the area of SPS/TBT. These commitments are likely to impact the future commitments undertaken 
by Belarus, which is an EAEU member state still in the process of WTO accession. In addition, a 
solution ha d to be found to a particular challenge arising in the area market access for goods. 
Specifically, Kazakhstan had already concluded 29 bilateral agreements on market access for goods 
with WTO Members when it entered into a customs union with Belarus and th e Russian Federation. 
To address the discrepancies arising between the signed bilateral agreements and the new CET, a 
tariff adjustment mechanism had to be negotiated with WTO Members (see Box 3). So far, this is 
the only example of such a tariff adjustmen t in WTO history.    WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 24 - 
 
   
Box 3 - Tariff adjustment: the case of Kazakhstan  
 
The tariff adjustment mechanism was negotiated as a two -stage process:58  
 
1. Pre-accession tariff adjustment . The first stage consisted of the reduction of the bound tariff rates 
for 65% of the tariff lines agreed by Kazakhstan in its bilateral market access agreements on goods 
that were higher than those of the Russian Federation, in order to match the Russian Federation 's level 
of bound duty rates. This adjustment was reflected i n the Goods Schedule annexed to Kazakhstan 's 
WTO Accession Protocol;   
 
2. Post -accession tariff adjustment . This adjustment was set to take place through a "GATT Article 
XXVIII -like" tariff re -negotiation with affected signatory Members (i.e. Members who c oncluded bilateral 
market access agreements on goods with Kazakhstan and hold initial negotiating rights (INRs), had a 
principal or substantial supplying interest by the date on which the negotiations started, or those with 
export to Kazakhstan of a minimu m yearly average of US$ 175,000 per tariff line per year during the 
2008–13 period). This stage will not start before  2023, i.e. the year by which both Kazakhstan and the 
Russian Federation should have implemented their tariff concessions fully. This adjus tment would affect 
29% of bound tariff lines for which Kazakhstan 's bound rates on goods were lower than those of Russia, 
with a view to aligning them with Russia 's rates. Until the successful completion of the post -accession 
compensatory tariff adjustment  negotiations, Kazakhstan will maintain exceptions from the EAEU CET 
with respect to tariff lines where Kazakhstan 's bound rates are lower than the EAEU CET. If no 
satisfactory adjustment is achieved in three years since the start of the negotiations, the matter will be 
referred to the WTO General Council.  
 
 
96. Other than the CU/EAEU, the accommodation of a CET played a role in other WTO accessions 
where participation in a customs union had to be addressed . This was the case in the accession of 
Seychelles , concluded in 2014, as it was preparing to apply the COMESA CET from 2015,59 as well 
as in the accession of Liberia , concluded in 2015, as Liberia was phasing in the ECOWAS CET whose 
implementation started from 1 January 2016.60  In the  ongoing WTO accessions,  similar issue s may 
arise in the cases of Comoros, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan which are set to implement CET s 
within , respective ly, COMESA,  CEMAC and the EAC.  
4.  CONCLUSION: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NAVIGATING PARALLEL NEGOTIATI NG 
PROCESSES  
97. In 2019 -2020, acceding governments and Article XII Members had an opportunity to share 
experience and exchange views on how to manage the dual challenge s of WTO accession and 
regional integration, including at the 8th China Round Table and the 3rd Regional Dialogue on WTO 
Accessions for Africa .   
98. The central message emerging from these discussions was an affirmation of the 
complementarity between the WTO and RTAs. It was noted that the multilateral and regional 
frameworks should provide coherent structures  to advance national trade and economic 
development goals.  Particular focus was placed on the importance of maximizing  the benefits of 
participat ion in parallel accession processes, especially when a WTO acceding government is involved 
in simultaneous RTA  negotiations.  The following recommendations have been formulated:   
• Identification of domestic development needs and priorities , including at  the sector -level, 
based on impact studies  of WTO accession and RTA(s) which the acceding  government is 
implementing or negotiating;  
• Articulation of a policy statement from the highest level of authority on how WTO accession 
and RTA implementation/negotiation are complementary and mutually supportive in 
achieving the development goals of the acceding government;  
 
58 Report of the Working Party on the Accession of Kazakhstan (document WT/ACC/KAZ/93), paragraphs 
304-311.  
59 Report of the Working Party on the Accession of Seychelles (document WT/ACC/SYC/64 ), paragraphs 
124-126. 
60 Report of the Working Party on the Acces sion of Liberia (document WT/ACC/LBR/23 • WT/MIN(15)/2) 
paragraphs 91 -94.   WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 25 - 
 
  • Development of a strategy to align parallel negotiations in terms of policy objectives, 
roadmaps and inter -ministerial coordination mechanisms;  
• Devel opment of a coordinated domestic reform plan aimed at achieving consistency with the 
legal and institutional frameworks of the WTO and the RTA;  
• Appointment of one Chief Trade Negotiator responsible for WTO accession and RTA 
negotiation, or establishment o f a clear reporting mechanism to ensure that parallel 
negotiating processes are aligned and coordinated, including through regular exchange of 
information;         
• Establishment of mechanisms for private sector consultations on WTO accession and RTA 
negoti ations;  
• Organization of joint training activities on trade negotiations  which cover the WTO 
Agreements and RTA(s);  
• Development of a coherent media and communication strateg y on WTO accession and RTA 
negotiation, including on potential outcomes ; and,   
• Development of a post -accession strategy for the implementation of accession commitments 
and RTAs, through periodic monitoring and collection of data.  
99. The proliferation of RTAs is expected to have a continuing impact on the WTO, including in the 
area of WTO accessions. Many acceding governments are currently engaged in RTA negotiations 
aimed at expanding and deepening the coverage of existing agreements to accommodate for the 
business reality of the 21st century and the post -pandemic global econom y. For instance, all African 
acceding governments are currently engaged in  negotiating  Phase II of the AfCFTA to extend  its 
coverage  to investment, intellectual property rights  and competition. Ensuring coherence and finding 
synergies between the dual goal s of concluding WTO accession and RTA participation is an important 
issue which merits the full attention of trade negotiators and policy makers.  
VII. POST -ACCESSION  
100.  The post -accession implementation support framework consists of five pillars:  
i. Country -Specific Post -Accession Implementation Strategy;  
ii. Specialized training  and outreach  on WTO post -accession;  
iii. Secretariat Note on "Best Practices on WTO Post -Accession"  (document WT/ACC/27) ; 
iv. Dedicated webpage on "Post -accession — what next?" on the WTO website;61 
v. Internal Secretariat Note on Post -Accession Implementation and Monitoring.  
101.  In 2020, the Secretariat continued monitor ing the participation of Article XII Members in the 
work of the WTO and organized dedicated outreach sessions on post -accession  (pillars ii and v). 
As part of this work, dedicated session s were organized focusing on post -accession experiences and 
impact of the  COVID -19 pandemic on  FCA Article XII Members, including Afghanistan, Liberia and 
Yemen, as part of the 2020 Trade for Peace Week  (see paragraphs 3 5, 73).   
102.  The 9th China Round Table on WTO Accessions , organized on 11 December , reviewed the 
results of  25 years of WTO Accessions , including specific experiences of Article XII Members  (see 
paragraph 4 1).62 It also commemorated the anniversaries of China, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and 
Kazakhstan for their 19th, 20th, 15th and 5th years of WTO membership .  Othe r anniversary event s 
included the celebration of 20th anniversary for Oman's WTO membership, organized during the 
Regional Dialogue for the Arab Region (see paragraph 3 7).      
103.  Additionally, representatives of Article XII Members continued taking part in d iscussions in 
various accession -related TA and outreach activities, as reported under Section 5, to discuss their 
post-accession experiences and give advice to current acceders.  
 
61 https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/post_acc_e.htm   
62 A collection of videos  by Article XII Member s is available here: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3zafrsmIQk&feature=youtu.be    WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 26 - 
 
   
VIII. TRADE AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF ARTICLE XII MEMBERS63 
104.  According to the World Trade Statistical Review 20 2064, the volume of world merchandise 
trade, measured by the average  of exports and imports, decreased  by 0.1% in 201 9 against 2.9% 
growth in 201 8. This was largely  due to persistent trade tensions and  weaker global GDP growth . 
The n ominal trade value declined  by 3% in 201 9 and totalled close to US $19.05 trillion. World trade 
in commercial services continued to expand  for the third consecutive yea r, albeit at a lower rate of 
2.1% in 2019, totalling US$ 5.898 trillion. World trade was predicted to fall by 9.2% in 2020, followed 
by a 7.2% rise in 2021, depending on the evolution of the pandemic and governments' responses 
to it.65 
105.  Figure 3 below  compa res the evolution of market shares of world trade of original WTO 
Members , the 36 Article XII Members, and the 23 acceding governments. The sha re of world trade 
of original Members has decreased from almost 8 9% in 1995, to just below 86% in 2005, and furth er 
down to about  80% in 201 9. Conversely, the share of world trade of the 36 Article XII Members has 
increased from about 8% in 1995, to more than 12% in 2005, and then to  18% in 201 9. This 
observation lends support to the view that the WTO accession process and subsequent WTO 
membership ha ve a positive effect on the trade growth  of acceded Members . The share of the 23 
acceding governments has remained fairly stable over the period, standing at 1.5% in 2019.  
The share of world trade a ccounted for by WTO Members reached 98.2% in 2019.  
Figure 3: Shares of world trade (1995, 2005 and 201 9) 
 
 
Source:  WTO Data  Portal.  
 
106.  Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7  focus  specifically on the trade and economic performance of the 36 
Article XII Members in the years before and after accession to the WTO  by depict ing growth trends 
in GDP, merchandise trade in goods (exports and imports), and inward foreign direct investment 
(FDI) stocks.66 These indicators demonstrate that a fter acceding to the WTO , Article XII Members  
have, on average, experienced faster growth - both in comparison with the years prior to WTO 
accession and when assessed relative to the world  average . These results lend support to the 
argument that integrated open economies tend to grow faster. By signa lling a government's 
commitment to international rules, WTO  membership appears to also encourage the inflow of foreign 
investment.   
 
63 See Annex es 6 and 7  to this Report.  
64 Available at https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2020_e/wts20_toc_e.htm   
65 https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres20_e/pr862_e.htm . 
66 The figures  include the most recent available data from 2019.  
 WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 27 - 
 
  Figure 4: GDP growth rate of Article XII Members  
(Indices, WTO accession year = 100)  
 
Source:  IMF. 
Figure 5: Growth  rate of merchandise exports of Article XII Members  
(Indices, WTO accession year = 100)  
 
Source:  WTO Data  Portal.  
 
 WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 28 - 
 
  Figure 6: Growth  rate of merchandise imports of Article XII Members  
(Indices, WTO accession year = 100)  
 
 
Source:  WTO Data  Portal.  
 
Figure 7: Growth  rate of FDI inward stocks of Article XII Members  
(Indices, WTO accession year = 100)  
 
 
Source:  UNCTAD .  
 
 WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 29 - 
 
  107.  On the services side, Article XII Members have also tended to perform better in the years 
following accession than in the years prior to a ccession. The picture is more mixed when comparing 
their performance relative to the world average . In particular, for Article XII Members join ing the 
WTO after 2012, growth in commercial services exports has been positive , but has not outperform ed 
the world average  (see Figures 8 (A and B)).67  
Figure  8: Growth  rate of commercial services exports of Article XII Members  
A: ACCESSIONS CONCLUDED PRIOR TO 201168 
(Indices, WTO accession year = 100)  
 
 
67 To address methodological constraints linked to the implementation of the EBOPS 2010 classification, 
data for trade in commercial services  is presented  in two groups : accessions  prior to  2011 and acce ssions after  
2012. See Technical Note on the trade in commercial services datasets at: 
https://data.wto.org/assets/UserGuide/TechnicalNotes_en.pdf .  
68 Article XII Members who acceded prior to 2011: Ecuador, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Panama, Kyrgyz Republic, 
Latvia, Estonia, Jordan, Georgia, Albania, Oman, Croatia, Lithuania, Moldova, China, Chinese Taipei, Armenia, 
North Macedonia, Nepal, Cambodia, Saudi Arab ia, Viet Nam, Tonga, Ukraine, Cabo Verde.  
 WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 30 - 
 
  B: ACCESSIONS CONCLUDED AFTER 201269 
(Indices, WTO accession year = 100)  
 
Source:  WTO Data  Portal.  
 
 
69 Article XII Members who acceded after 2012: Montenegro, Samoa, Russian Federation, Vanuatu, Lao 
PDR, Tajikistan, Yemen, Seychelles, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Afghanistan.  
 
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228  
 
- 31 - ANNEX 1 – ACCESSIONS DIVISION WORK INDICATORS (201 8-2020) 
  2018  2019  2020  
Membership & Accessions  
New WTO member  0 0 0 
Acceding Government  
(New application)  21  
(0) 22 
(1) 23 
(1)+ 
Active Accessions  16 14 17 
Accession -related Meetings & Missions  
WP meetings  5 4 
 4 
IGA 10 8 6 
IGAG  3 7 5 
Technical assistance  & outreach  25 20 27 
Missions  19 17 3 
Document outputs  
Newsletter  10 7 6 
Pages of acc. documents to WPs  2647 2106 1793 
 
+ Turkmenistan applied for observer status in the WTO  
Source:  Accessions Division internal data.  
 
  
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228  
 
- 32 - ANNEX 2 - ACCESSIONS NEGOTIATED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE XII  
Government*  Membership 
Date  Working Party Report  Goods Schedule  Services 
Schedule  Protocol of Accession  General Council Decision  
1. Ecuador  21/01/1996  WT/L/77 & Corr.1  Add.1 & Corr.1, 2  Add.2  WT/ACC/ECU/6  WT/ACC/ECU/5  
2. Bulgaria  01/12/1996  WT/ACC/BGR/5 & Corr.1  Add.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/BGR/7  WT/ACC/BGR/6  
3. Mongolia  29/01/1997  WT/ACC/MNG/9 & Corr.1  Add.1 & Corr.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/MNG/11  WT/ACC/MNG/10  
4. Panama  06/09/1997  WT/ACC/PAN/19 & Corr.1  Add.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/PAN/21  WT/ACC/PAN/20  
5. Kyrgyz Republic  20/12/1998  WT/ACC/KGZ/26 & Corr.1  Add.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/KGZ/29  WT/ACC/KGZ/28  
6. Latvia  10/02/1999  WT/ACC/LVA/32  Add.1 & Corr.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/LVA /35 WT/ACC/LVA/34  
7. Estonia  13/11/1999  WT/ACC/EST/28  Add.1  Add.2 & Corr.1  WT/ACC/EST/30  WT/ACC/EST/29  
8. Jordan  11/04/2000  WT/ACC/JOR/33 & Corr.1  Add.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/JOR/35  WT/ACC/JOR/34  
9. Georgia  14/06/2000  WT/ACC/GEO/31  Add.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/GEO/33  WT/ACC/GEO/32  
10. Albania  08/09/2000  WT/ACC/ALB/51 & Corr.1  Add.1  Add.2 & Corr.1, 2  WT/ACC/ALB/53 & Corr.1  WT/ACC/ALB/52 & Corr.1  
11. Oman  09/11/2000  WT/ACC/OMN/26  Add.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/OMN/28  WT/ACC/OMN/27  
12. Croatia  30/11/2000  WT/ACC/HRV/59  Add.1  Add.2 & Corr.1, 2  WT/ACC/HRV/61  WT/ACC/HRV/60  
13. Lithuania  31/05/2001  WT/ACC/LTU/52  Add.1 & Corr.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/LTU/54  WT/ACC/LTU/53  
14. Moldova, Republic of  26/07/2001  WT/ACC/MOL/37 & Corr.1 -4 Add.1  Add.2  WT/ACC/MOL/40  WT/ACC/MOL/39  
15. China  11/12/2001  WT/ACC/CHN/49 & Corr.1  
WT/MIN(01)/3  Add.1  
Add.1  Add.2  
Add.2  WT/L/432  WT/L/432  
16. Chinese Taipei  01/01/2002  WT/ACC/TPKM/18  
WT/MIN(01)/4  Add.1  
Add.1  Add.2  
Add.2  WT/L/433  WT/L/433  
17. Armenia  05/02/2003  WT/ACC/ARM/23 & Corr.1  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/506  WT/L/506  
18. North  Macedonia  04/04/2003  WT/ACC/807/27  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/494  WT/L/494  
19. Nepal  23/04/2004  WT/ACC/NPL/16  Add.1  Add.2  WT/MIN(03)/19  WT/MIN(03)/19  
20. Cambodia  13/10/2004  WT/ACC/KHM/21  Add.1  Add.2  WT/MIN(03)/18  WT/MIN(03)/18  
21. Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of  11/12/2005  WT/ACC/SAU/61  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/627  WT/L/627  
22. Viet Nam  11/01/2007  WT/ACC/VNM/48  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/662  WT/L/662  
23. Tonga  27/07/2007  WT/ACC/TON/17  
WT/MIN(05)/4  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/644  WT/L/644  
24. Ukraine  16/05/2008  WT/ACC/UKR/152  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/718  WT/L/718  
25. Cabo Verde  23/07/2008  WT/ACC/CPV/30  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/715  WT/L/715  
26. Montenegro  29/04/2012  WT/ACC/CGR/38  
WT/MIN(11)/7  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/841  WT/MIN(11)/28  
WT/L/841  
27. Samoa  10/05/2012  WT/ACC/SAM/30  
WT/MIN(11)/1  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/840  WT/MIN( 11)/27  
WT/L/840  
28. Russian Federation  22/08/2012  WT/ACC/RUS/70  
WT/MIN(11)/2  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/839  WT/MIN(11)/24  
WT/L/839  
29. Vanuatu  24/08/2012  WT/ACC/VUT/17  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/862  WT/L/823  
30. Lao People's Democratic 
Republic  02/02/2013  WT/ACC/LAO/45  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/865  WT/L/865  
31. Tajikistan  02/03/2013  WT/ACC/TJK/30  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/872  WT/L/872  
32. Yemen  26/06/2014  WT/ACC/YEM/42  Add.1  Add.2  WT/MIN(13)/24  
WT/L/905  WT/MIN(13)/24  
WT/L/905  
33. Seychelles  26/04/2015  WT/ACC/SYC/64  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/944  WT/L/944  
34. Kazakhstan  30/11/2015  WT/ACC/KAZ/93  Add.1  Add.2  WT/L/957  WT/L/957  
35. Liberia  14/07/2016  WT/ACC/LBR/23  Add.1  Add.2  WT/MIN(15)/38  
WT/L/973  WT/MIN(15)/38  
WT/L/973  
36. Afghanistan  29/07/2016  WT/ACC/AFG/36  Add.1  Add.2  WT/MIN(15)/39  
WT/L/974  WT/MIN(15)/39  
WT/L/974  
*  Sorted by date of membership.   
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228  
 
- 33 - ANNEX 3 - WTO ACCESSIONS WORKING PARTY CHAIRPERSONS  
No. Government  Date Working Party 
established  WP Chairperson*  Geneva -based  
(Y/N)  
1.  Algeria  17 June 1987 H.E. Mr. José Luís CANCELA GÓMEZ (Uruguay)  Y 
2.  Andorra  22 October  1997 Pending  
3.  Azerbaijan  16 July 1997 Pending   
4.  The Bahamas  18 July 2001 Pending   
5.  Belarus  27 October  1993 H.E. Mr Kemal MADENOĞLU (Turkey)  Y 
6.  Bhutan  6 October  1999 H.E. Dr Elisabeth TICHY -FISSLBERGER (Austria)  Y 
7.  Bosnia and Herzegovina  15 July 1999 H.E. Mr. Atanas PAPARIZOV (Bulgaria)   Y 
8.  Comoros, Union of the  9 October  2007 Pending   
9.  Curaçao  3 March 2020  Pending  
10.  Equatorial Guinea  5 February  2008 Pending  
11.  Ethiopia  10 February  2003 H.E. Mr Morten JESPERSEN (Denmark)  Y 
12.  Iran 26 May 2005 Pending  
13.  Iraq 13 December  2004 H.E. Mr Omar HILALE (Morocco)  N 
14.  Lebanese Republic  14 April 1999 Mr Jean -Paul THUILLIER (France)  N 
15.  Libya  27 July 2004 Mr Victor ECHEVARRÍA UGARTE (Spain)  N 
16.  Sao Tomé and Principe  26 May 2005 Pending  
17.  Serbia  15 February  2005 H.E. Mrs. Marie -Claire SWÄRD CAPRA (Sweden)  N 
18.  Somalia  7 December 2016  H.E. Mr Mikael ANZÉN (Sweden)  Y 
19.  South Sudan  13 December 2017  Pending   
20.  Sudan  25 October  1994 Mr. Katsuro NAGAI (Japan)  Y 
21.  Syrian Arab Republic  4 May 2010 Pending  
22.  Timor -Leste  7 December 2016  H.E. Mr. Rui MACIEIRA (Portugal)  Y 
23.  Uzbekistan  21 December  1994 H.E. Ms Ji -ah PAIK (Republic of Korea)  Y 
*  As of December 20 20. 
  
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228  
 
- 34 - ANNEX 4 - OVERVIEW OF RTAs BY ARTICLE XII MEMBERS1 
(AS OF DECEMBER 2020)  
Article XII 
Members  WTO 
Accession 
date RTAs  Under Negotiation  
Africa  
Cabo Verde  07/2008  Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); African Continental FTA (AfCFTA)   
Liberia  07/2016  ECOWAS ; AfCFTA   
Seychelles  04/2015  South African Development Community (SADC); Common Market for Eastern and Southern 
Africa (COMESA)   
Asia  
Afghanistan  07/2016  Economic Cooperation Organization Trade Agreement (ECOTA); South Asian FTA (SAFTA)   
Cambodia  10/2004  Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); Regional Comprehensive Econ omic Partnership 
(RCEP)   
China  12/2001  Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA); ASEAN -China; RCEP   
Lao PDR  02/2013  ASEAN FTA; APTA; RCEP  
Mongolia  01/1997    
Nepal  04/2004  SAFTA; SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA)  Bay of Bengal Initiative for 
Multi-Sectoral Technical and 
Economic Cooperation 
(BIMSTEC)   
Samoa  05/2012  Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) ; South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic 
Cooperation Agreement (SPARTECA)   
Chinese Taipei  01/2002  El Salvador -Honduras -Chinese Taipei   
Tonga  07/2007  PICTA ; SPARTECA   
Vanuatu  08/2012  PICTA ; Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) ; SPARTECA   
Viet Nam  01/2007  GSTP; ASEAN FTA;  Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans -Pacific Partnership 
(CPTPP); EU -Viet Nam; Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) -Viet Nam; RCEP   
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)  
Armenia  02/2003  2011 Commonwealth of Independent States FTA (CIS FTA) ; EU-Armenia; EAEU   
Georgia  06/2000  Georgia Ukraine Azerbaijan Moldova (GUAM) FTA ; EU-Georgia   
Kazakhstan  11/2015  2011 CIS FTA ; EAEU;  ECOTA  
Kyrgyz Republic  12/1998  2011 CIS FTA ; ECOTA; EAEU   
Moldova  07/2001  Central European FTA (CEFTA); GUAM FTA ; 2011 CIS FTA ; EU-Moldova   
Russian Federation  08/2012  2011 CIS FTA; EAEU   
Tajikistan  03/2013  ECOTA ; 2011 CIS FTA   
Ukraine  05/2008  GUAM FTA ; EU-Ukraine   
 
1 Article XII Members were divided by region a ccording to the methodology employed in the 2020 World Trade Statistical Review: 
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2020_e/wts2020chapter05_e.pdf   
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228  
 
- 35 - Article XII 
Members  WTO 
Accession 
date RTAs  Under Negotiation  
Europe  
Albania  09/2000  CEFTA; EU -Albania  EU 
Bulgaria  12/1996  EU  
Croatia  11/2000  EU  
Estonia  11/1999  EU  
Latvia  02/1999  EU  
Lithuania  05/2001  EU  
Montenegro  04/2012  CEFTA ; EU-Montenegro   
North Macedonia  04/2003  CEFTA ; European Free Trade Association -North Macedonia  EU 
Middle East  
Jordan  04/2000  Agadir FTA; Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA); EU -Jordan   
Oman  11/2000  Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); GAFTA   
Saudi Arabia  12/2005  GAFTA ; GCC   
Yemen  06/2014  GAFTA   
South and Central America  
Ecuador  01/1996  Latin American Integration Association (LAIA) ; Andean Community (CAN); EU–Colombia, 
Peru and Ecuador   
Panama  09/1997  Central American Common Market (CACM); EU-Central America   
 
Note:  The list of RTAs is not exhaustive. Bilateral RTAs are omitted because of their large number, except for bilateral RTAs betwe en a country and a trading bloc. By virtue of 
participating in the listed RTAs, the governments also benefit from the agreements concluded by these RTAs (if any). Such agr eements are also not listed.  RTAs signed 
as of the accession date of Article XII Members are marked in bold.  
 
 
 WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228  
 
- 36 - 
 
  ANNEX 5 – LENGTH OF TIME OF COMPLETED ACCESSIONS  
No. Article XII Member  Date of  
WP 
Establishment  Date of 
Membership  Total Time of 
Accession 
Process  
1.  Ecuador  09/1992  01/1996  3 years 4 months  
2.  Bulgaria  11/1986  12/1996  10 years 1 month  
3.  Mongolia  10/1991  01/1997  5 years 3 months  
4.  Panama  10/1991  09/1997  5 years 11 months  
5.  Kyrgyz Republic  04/1996  12/1998  2 years 8 months  
6.  Latvia  12/1993  02/1999  5 years 2 months  
7.  Estonia  03/1994  11/1999  5 years 8 months  
8.  Jordan  01/1994  04/2000  6 years 3 months  
9.  Georgia  07/1996  06/2000  3 years 11 months  
10.  Albania  12/1992  09/2000  7 years 9 months  
11.  Oman  06/1996  11/2000  4 years 5 months  
12.  Croatia  10/1993  11/2000  7 years 1 month  
13.  Lithuania  02/1994  05/2001  7 years 3 months  
14.  Moldova, Republic of  12/1993  07/2001  7 years 7 months  
15.  China  03/1987  12/2001  14 years 9 months  
16.  Chinese Taipei  09/1992  01/2002  9 years 4 months  
17.  Armenia  12/1993  02/2003  9 years 2 months  
18.  North Macedonia  12/1994  04/2003  8 years 4 months  
19.  Nepal*  06/1989  04/2004  14 years 10 months  
20.  Cambodia*  12/1994  10/2004  9 years 10 months  
21.  Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of  07/1993  12/2005  12 years 5 months  
22.  Viet Nam  01/1995  01/2007  12 years  
23.  Tonga  11/1995  07/2007  11 years 8 months  
24.  Ukraine  12/1993  05/2008  14 years 5 months  
25.  Cabo Verde*  07/2000  07/2008  8 years  
26.  Montenegro  02/2005  04/2012  7 years 2 months  
27.  Samoa*  07/1998  05/2012  13 years 10 months  
28.  Russian Federation  07/1993  08/2012  19 years 1 month  
29.  Vanuatu*  07/1995  08/2012  17 years 1 month  
30.  Lao PDR*  02/1998  02/2013  15 years  
31.  Tajikistan  07/2001  03/2013  11 years 8 months  
32.  Yemen*  07/2000  06/2014  13 years 11 months  
33.  Seychelles  07/1995  04/2015  19 years 9 months  
34.  Kazakhstan  02/1996  11/2015  19 years 9 months  
35.  Liberia*  12/2007  07/2016  8 years 7 months  
36.  Afghanistan*  12/2004  07/2016  11 years 7 months  
 
Overall Average  10 years 2 months  
LDCs  Accessions  12 years 6 months  
Non-LDCs Accessions  9 years 4 months  
*  LDCs. Cabo Verde and Samoa acceded to the WTO as LDCs. They graduated from LDC  status in 
2007 and in 2014, respectively.  
 
   
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 37 - ANNEX 6 – BASIC ECONOMIC PROFILES OF ACCEDING GOVERNMENTS  AND ARTICLE XII MEMBERS  
Table 6-1: Acceding Governments  
 
Acceding 
Government  Population1 
(thousands)  GDP2 
(millions 
USD)  GDP per 
Capita2 
(USD)  Trade per 
capita3 
(USD)  Trade as % 
GDP3 Merchandise 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Merchandise 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  
Algeria  43,053.05  169,267  3,898  1,171 28.8 35,824 41,934 3,0405 10,4525 
Andorra  77.14  No data available  
Azerbaijan  10,023.32  48,408  4,814  1,933 45.8 19,500 12,000 3,727 6,303 
The Bahamas  389.48  13,579  35,664  11,149 33.8 654 2,967 4,037 1,727 
Belarus  9,466.86  63,085  6,658  3,795 66.6 32,960 39,480 9,598 5,823 
Bhutan  763.092  2,500  3,357  1,210 40.8 594 981 144 211 
Bosnia and 
Herzegovina  3,301 .00 19,856  6,015  2,460 47.1 6,578 11,159 2,246 7,38 
Comoros, Union of 
the* 850.8 9 1,190  1,362  2516 31.46 49 224 1045 1055 
Curaçao  157.5 4   1,451 1,322 896 
Equatorial Guinea  1,355.99  11,819  8,690  5,8926 456 5,200 2,700 1817 1,4697 
Ethiopia*  112,078.73  92,796  961 141 17.3 2,761 14,554 4,536  4,151  
Iran 82,913.91  583,698  7,010  1,060 21.0 65,718 41,828 10,0687 17,2707 
Iraq 39,309.78  230,143  5,884  1,577 29.8 82,309 46,262 6,331 24,246 
Lebanese Republic  6,855.71  52,522  7,661  4,202  47.4 4,829 19,641 15,003 14,363 
Libya  6,777.45  39,832  6,055  2,1738 62.88 24,441 14,373 100 5,605 
Sao Tome and 
Principe*  215.0 6 422 1,980  656 35 13 148 43 54 
Serbia  6,944.98  51,409  7,382  3,389 52.7 19,630 26,730 7,786 6,569 
Somalia*  15,442.91  No data available  4055 1,4785 
South Sudan*  11,062.11  4,934  369 169 64.9 n/a n/a 2175 5965 
Sudan*  42,813.24  33,359  772 171 15.5 39,73 9,199 1,353 1,298 
 
1 For the year 2019 . Source: World Bank, Population: All Countries and Economies, available at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL  (accessed in January 
2021).  
2 For 2019 unless otherwis e indicated. Source: IMF (accessed in January 2021).  
3 For 2016 –2018 unless otherwise indicated.  
4 For 2019 unless otherwise indicated.  
5 For 2018.  
6 For 201 4–2016. 
7 For 2017.  
8 For 2015 –2017.   
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 38 - Acceding 
Government  Population1 
(thousands)  GDP2 
(millions 
USD)  GDP per 
Capita2 
(USD)  Trade per 
capita3 
(USD)  Trade as % 
GDP3 Merchandise 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Merchandise 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  
Syrian Arab 
Republic  17,070.14  60,0439 2,64210 86711 32.811 2,100 4,900 2,43410 2,81810 
Timor -Leste*  1,293.12  1,620  1,252  458 20.3 154 591 76 320 
Uzbekistan  33,580.65  57,921  1,742  442 27.1 14,024 21,866 3,075 5,334 
 
Table 6-2: Article XII Members  
Article XII Member  Population1 
(thousands)  GDP2 
(millions 
USD)  GDP per 
Capita2 
(USD)  Trade per 
capita3 
(USD)  Trade as % 
GDP3 Merchandise 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Merchandise 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  
Afghanistan*  38,041.75 18,876  507 128 22.9 975 7,330  600 1,211  
Albania  2,854.19 15,276  5,323  1,759 37.8 2,716  5,897  3,736  2,283  
Armenia  2,957.73 13,673  4,605  1,620 42.1 2,640  5,514  2,356  2,282  
Bulgaria  6,975.76 67,931  9,772  5,322 63.8 33,303  37,176  10,562  6,077  
Cabo Verde  549.94 1,982  3,602  1,810 54.8 62 796 713 349 
Cambodia*  16,486.54 26,728  1,620  1,087 78.2 14,700  20,720  6,027  3,161  
China  1,397,715 14,401,726  10,287  1,682 19.1 2,499,457  2,078,386  281,651  496,967  
Croatia  4,067.50 60,422  14,853  6,695 49.5 17,180  28,160  16,797  5,457  
Ecuador  17,373.66 107,436  6,222  1,317 21.3 22,329  22,564  3,144  3,938  
Estonia  1,326.59 31,475  23,758  15,192 74.1 16,105  18,018  7,866  5,619  
Georgia  3,720.38 17,743  4,765  2,271 55.4 3,798  9,517  4,510  2,360  
Jordan  10,101.69 44,566  4,426  1,878 44.6 8,313  19,337  7,709  4,656  
Kazakhstan  18,513.93 181,667  9,750  2,593 30.1 57,309  37,757  7,495  11,297  
Kyrgyz Republic  6,456.90 8,455  1,323  608 50.5 1,966  4,904  1,160  960 
Lao PDR*  7,169.45 19,059  2,661  935 36.4 5,764  6,252  1,101  1,274  
Latvia  1,912.79 34,121  17,772  9,500 59.7 15,689  18,947  6,261  3,493  
Liberia*  4,937.37 3,176  694 213 27.9 528 869 9 235 
 
9 For 2010.  
10 For 2011.  
11 For 2008 -2010.  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 39 - Article XII Member  Population1 
(thousands)  GDP2 
(millions 
USD)  GDP per 
Capita2 
(USD)  Trade per 
capita3 
(USD)  Trade as % 
GDP3 Merchandise 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Merchandise 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
exports4 
(millions 
USD)  Commercial 
services 
imports4 
(millions 
USD)  
Lithuania  2,786.84 54,225  19,482  13,256 78.1 33,151  35,759  13,144  7,665  
Moldova  2,657.64 11,956  4,458  1,181 43.1 2,779  5,843  1,503  1,149  
Mongolia  3,225.18 13,853  4,202  2,155 57.7 7,620  6,127  1,364  2,948  
Montenegro  622.17 5,495  8,826  4,192 53.6 2,909  1,895  1,895  744 
Nepal*  28,608.71 30,690  1,079  265 31.1 968 12,340  1,512  1,691  
North Macedonia  2,083.46 12,698  6,109  3,480 62.5 7,189  9,471  1,811 1,418 
Oman  4,974.99 76,332  18,198  8,8068 518 40,987  23,216  4,4565 11,6515 
Panama  4,246.44 66,801  15,834  6,566 43.5 10,527  21,492  13,817  5,001  
Russian Federation  144,373.54 1,702,496  11,601  2,525 24.3 419,850  254,598  61,714  97,483  
Samoa  197.1 851 4,231  1,6528 408 49 388 294 112 
Saudi Arabia  34,268.53 792,967  23,266  6,598 30.4 261,603  153,163  23,468  51,569  
Seychelles  97.63 1,651  17,127  16,635 104.7  518 1,167  1,117  679 
Chinese Taipei  12 610,692  25,873  14,865 62.0 330,622  287,164  51,451  56,379  
Tajikistan  9,321.02 8,117  873 224 27.8 1,250  3,350  239 479 
Tonga  104.49 517 5,151  1,938 43.4 20 238 84 93 
Ukraine  44,385.16 154,694  3,707  1,345 51.6 50,066  60,607  16,997  14,711  
Vanuatu   299.88 933 3,186  1,5228 50.98 48 290 3675 1525 
Viet Nam  96,462.11 329,537  3,416  2,359 100.0  264,273  253,903  27,421  18,552  
Yemen*  29,161.92 22,568  713 2545 18.55 1,434  10,407  30913 1,45013 
  LDCs  
Source:  WTO Data  Portal (accessed in January 2021) , unless otherwise indicated. For dates of Membership for Article XII Members, and dates of establishment of Working Parties 
for Acceding Governments, see Annexes 2 and 3, respectively.  
 
 
 
 
12 Data unavailable.  
13 For 2016.   
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 40 - ANNEX 7 – DATA ON TRADE PERFORMANCE  
Table 7-1: Value of merchandise trade and annual percentage change (1995 –2019) 
(Billion dollars and percentage)  
    1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  
Article XII 
Members  Value  857 911 975 899 941 1,208  1,194  1,360  1,747  2,307  2,846  3,469  4,217  
Annual 
percentage 
change   6.2%  7.1%  -7.8%  4.6%  28.4%  -1.1%  13.9%  28.4%  32.1%  23.3%  21.9%  21.6%  
World  Value  10,453  10,953  11,331  11,186  11,645  13,183  12,679  13,242  15,459  18,797  21,379  24,592  28,353  
Year-on-year 
percentage 
change   4.8%  3.5%  -1.3%  4.1%  13.2%  -3.8%  4.4%  16.7%  21.6%  13.7%  15.0%  15.3%  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage)  
    2008  2009  2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  
Article XII 
Members  Value  5,122  3,999  5,279  6,578  6,926  7,277  7,330  6,341  5,923  6,759  7,641  7,601  
Annual 
percentage 
change  21.4%  -21.9%  32.0%  24.6%  5.3%  5.1%  0.7%  -13.5%  -6.6%  14.01%  13.05%  -0.52%  
World  Value  32,732  25,337  30,812  36,841  37,201  37,970  38,106  33,232  32,180  35,720  39,299  38,196  
Year-on-year 
percentage 
change  15.4%  -22.6%  21.6%  19.6%  1.0%  2.1%  0.4%  -12.8%  -3.2%  11.0%  10.0%  -2.8%  
Source:  WTO Data  Portal (accessed in January 2021).  
   
  WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 41 - Table 7-2: Value of trade in commercial services* and annual percentage change (1995 –2019) 
(Billion dollars and percentage)  
    1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  
Article XII 
Members  Value  155 168 189 177 179 200 210 237 274 349 412 490 629 
Annual 
percentage 
change   8.6%  12.5%  -6.3%  0.7%  12.1%  4.7%  12.9%  15.8%  27.2%  18.0%  18.9%  28.4%  
World  Value  2,369  2,536  2,629  2,653  2,784  2,955  2,975  3,159  3,644  4,396  5,126  5,763  6,866  
Year-on-year 
percentage 
change   7.1%  3.7%  0.9%  4.9%  6.1%  0.7%  6.2%  15.4%  20.6%  16.6%  12.4%  19.1%  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage)  
    2008  2009  2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  
Article XII 
Members  Value  736 639 789 929 1,004  1,105  1,225  1,156  1,154  1,250  1403 1568 
Annual 
percentage 
change  17.0%  -13.2%  23.4%  17.8%  8.1%  10.0%  10.9%  -5.6%  -0.2%  8.3%  12.2%  11.75%  
World  Value  7,759  6,898  7,546  8,486  8,773  9,330  10,017  9,432  9,502  10,354  11255  11796  
Annual 
percentage 
change  13.0%  -11.1%  9.4%  12.4%  3.4%  6.3%  7.4%  -5.8%  0.7%  9.0%  8.7%  4.81%  
*  From 2005 onwards, the commercial services values are compiled using a new services classification in the balance of payments (BPM 6). Thus, figures are not directly 
comparable to those from earlier years.  
Source:  WTO Data  Portal (accessed in January 2021) .  
 
 WT/ACC/ 38 • WT/GC/ 228 
 
- 42 - 
 
  - 42 - ANNEX 8 – ACCESSIONS MANAGEMENT  
Accession Working Party Management * 
 
Accession Working Party  Code  Secretary  Co-Secretary  Administrative 
Manager/Support  
1. Algeria  DZA Tvarusko  Marchand  Tandara -Stenier  
2. Andorra  AND accessions@wto.org  - No Activity   
3. Azerbaijan  AZE Rasulov  
 Hou Tandara -Stenier  
4. Bahamas  BHS Tvarusko  Marchand  Tandara -Stenier  
5. Belarus  BLR Bratanov  
 Tvarusko  
Hou Wardak  
6. Bhutan* * BTN Rasulov  Tallur  Tandara -Stenier  
7. Bosnia and Herzegovina  BIH Varyanik  Tvarusko  Tandara -Stenier  
8. Comoros* * COM Bratanov  Tvarusko  Tandara -Stenier  
9. Curaçao  CUW Bratanov  Marchand  Tandara -Stenier  
10. Equatorial Guinea  GNQ Perez -Esteve  Marchand  Wardak  
11. Ethiopia* * ETH Varyanik  Tvarusko  
Jibril Wardak  
12. Iran IRN Varyanik  Hou Tandara -Stenier  
13. Iraq IRQ Hassan  Rasulov  
Jibril Wardak  
14. Lebanese Republic  LBN Hassan  Hou Tandara -Stenier  
15. Libya  LBY Bratanov  Hou Wardak  
16. Sao Tome et Principe* * STP Pérez -Esteve  Marchand  Wardak  
17. Serbia  SRB Varyanik  Tvarusko  Tandara -Stenier  
18. Somalia* * SOM Perez -Esteve  Jibril Wardak  
19. South Sudan* * SSD Perez -Esteve  Tallur  Wardak  
20. Sudan* * SDN Hassan  Jibril Tandara -Stenier  
21. Syrian Arab Republic  SYR Perez -Esteve  Hou Wardak  
22. Timor -Leste* * TLS Varyanik  Tallur  Wardak  
23. Uzbekistan  UZB Rasulov  
 Hou 
Tallur  Tandara -Stenier  
Observer  
Country  Code  Focal Point  Co-Focal Point  Administrative 
Manager/Support  
1. Turkmenistan  TKM Varyanik  Rasulov   
Hou Tandara -Stenier  
 
*  As of December 2020.  
** LDCs. 
 
ACCESSIONS STAFF DISPOSITION 20 20 
 
− Director;  
− Seven  Professionals;  
− Two Administrative Managers; and  
− Four rotating interns under the WTO Accessions Internship Programme  
 
 
__________