PRESS RELEASE 
 
PRESS/503/Rev.1 
19 December 2007 
 
(07-5662) 
ACCESSIONS  
WTO welcomes Cape Verde as a new member 
On 18 December 2007, the General Council cleared the path for Cape Verde’s membership in the 
WTO by approving a package of agreements which spell out the terms of Cape Verde’s accession.  
 WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy declared “ Cape Verde’s accession to the WTO is another sign 
of confidence in the organization and the mu ltilateral trading system. WTO membership will 
enable Cape Verde to participate more fully in  the global economy and will provide the country 
with a predictable and stable basis for growth and development. For the WTO, Cape Verde’s 
accession brings us one step closer to our goal of universal membership .” 
 The General Council welcomed the newcomer and congratulated the Cape Verdean delegation for 
the substantial efforts the country made to meet the WTO membership requirements.  
 Cape Verde has been negotiating its WTO membership since 1999 and under the chairmanship of 
US representative David Shark, the Working Part y concluded over 7 years of negotiations on 6 
December 2007. The General Council approved the Working Party report containing the reforms to 
Cape Verde’s trade regime, the market access schedules on goods and services, the General 
Council Decision and the Protocol of Accession. 
 Before becoming the 152nd member of the WTO, Cape Verde would have to ratify the deal by 30 
June 2008. The accession process will be completed 30 days after ratification.  
 Cape Verde’s Minister of Economy, Growth and Competitiveness, José Brito declared “ Cape 
Verde’s membership in the WTO marks a new era fo r our country. The membership is an essential 
element of our strategy to competitively insert Cape Verde in the global marketplace. We are confident that our accession to the WTO will bear fruit and would allow us to move forward with 
the realization of our national agenda for socioeconomic transformation. ” 
 As a result of the negotiations, Cape Verde ha s agreed to undertake a series of important 
commitments to further liberalize its trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world 
economy, while offering a transparent and predictable environment for trade and foreign investment. Amongst the commitments undertaken by Cape Verde are the following: 
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 Market access for goods 
 
As outlined in the Schedule for industrial products market access, Cape Verde is promising ceilings on duties (bound rates) ranging between zero an d 55%. Some bindings involve reductions phased 
in over a period of up to 2018. 
 Cape Verde has committed to an average tariff bind ing of over 19% for agricultural products and 
15% for industrial goods. Among products with hi gher tariffs (over 50%) are: alcoholic beverages, 
chocolates, soaps and detergents, carpets, glasswar e, cars and furniture. Product categories with 
lower tariffs (less than 5%) include civil aircraft, printed paper, certain medical goods and 
information technology products .  
 In agriculture, Cape Verde has no export subsidy programmes. On domestic support, no specific 
support has been provided for any agricultural product. Domestic support programmes (green 
box) are for environmental purposes, forest mana gement, water conservation, rural development, 
agricultural research, irrigation systems, and the development of livestock etc. The total amount of 
domestic support provided by Cape Verde in 2005 amounted up to 7.7million CVE (Cape Verdean 
escudos) which approximately corresponds to USD1.025 million.   
Market access for services 
 Cape Verde has made specific commitments on 10 services sectors and a wide range of sub-
sectors. Persons would be allowed to offer thei r services in Cape Verde with limitations for 
business visitors, foreign employees, managers or executives, specialists and contractual services suppliers.  
 
Background information on Cape Verde  
Cape Verde is an archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. It was a 
Portuguese colony until its independence in 1975.   
Since 1991, the country has pursued market oriented economic policies, facilitating foreign 
investment, fostering the private sector through privatisations, developing tourism, light manufacturing industries and fisheries. Cape Verde has also developed its transport, 
communications and energy facilities.  
 Cape Verde's annual growth is 6.5% and the GD P has reached USD1.3 billion in 2006. The GDP 
per capita is USD2,316.  
 The economy of Cape Verde is service oriented  accounting for more th an 70% of GDP, while 
agriculture and fishing accounts for 10%.  
 The population of 423,000 mostly lives in rural areas (about 70%).  
 
Cape Verde has few natural resources and suffers from serious water shortages exacerbated by cycles of long-term drought. The most important natural resources are salt, pozolan (volcanic rock 
used in cement production) and limestone.  
 Merchandise exports/imports 
 
• Merchandise exports: USD21 million  
• Merchandise imports: USD542 million PRESS/503/Rev.1 
Page 3 of 3 
 
 
 
Services exports/imports 
 
• Commercial services exports: USD 371 million  
• Commercial services imports: USD243 million  
 
Trading partners  
Its main trading partners are Portugal, Netherland s, Brazil, Spain, Italy, the US and France. The 
biggest importer to Cape Verde is Portugal (EUR116.79 million for 2007). Cape Verde exports to Portugal are worth EUR4.41 million in 2007.  
 
For more information on Cape Verde's other commitments, please see: http://www.wto.org/english/thew to_e/acc_e/a1_capvert_e.htm 
 
 
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