RESTRICTED  
  
JOB/ACC/COM/13  
 
19 January 2023  
(23-0478) Page: 1/2 
Working Party on the Accession of  
the Union of the Comoros  Original: French  
 
  
ACCESSION OF THE UNION OF THE COMOROS  
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR AHMED ALI BAZI  
MINISTER OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, INDUSTRY AND INVESTMENT,  
RESPONSIBLE FOR ECONOMIC INTEGRA TION 
AND CHIEF NEGOTIATOR  
Eighth Meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of the Union of the Comoros  
Geneva, 19 January 2023  
1. As the new Minister of Economic Affairs responsible for trade, I would firstly like to express 
my sincere thanks for your encouraging and constructive presence, which will, as always, be a sourc e 
of rich and fruitful dialogue that should lead  us to the conclusion of a round of negotiations launched 
in 2016.  
2. Secondly, I would like to join my predecessor at the Ministry of Finance in expressing my 
warmest appreciation to the Chair of the Working Pa rty, His Excellency Mr Omar Zniber, Ambassador 
of the Kingdom of Morocco to the Office of the United  Nations and other International Organizations 
in Geneva.  
3. Under your leadership, thanks to your commitment and dedication and your outstanding work 
on beha lf of our country within the framework of the WTO accession negotiations, sufficiently 
meaningful progress has been made in this process to ensure the conclusion of the negotiations and 
the formal accession of Comoros to the WTO in the first half of 2023.  
4. I am making  this statement in the context of the continuation of a lengthy process that began 
in 2016 and the outcomes achieved.  
5. Replies to the additional questions submitted have been provided and included in the draft 
final report circulated  to Members.  To complete that information, I would like to refer back to four 
questions posed by the United States. A meeting held yesterday made it possible to provide the 
following replies:  
i. Question concerning the customs territory of the Union of the Comoros. Agree ment was 
reached on the following wording: " ce présent accord sera appliqué sur l'étendue du territoire 
douanier de l'Union des Comores " ("this agreement will be applied throughout the customs 
territory of the Union of the Comoros" ). It will be included in  the draft final report.  
ii. Trade law and OHADA requirements concerning the attachment of foreign -owned branches 
to a company incorporated in an OHADA State Party.  
Following discussions, the Union of the Comoros undertook to circulate an OHADA Court of 
Justice ruling that made amendments to Article 120 , which provides  Member States with a 
non-discriminatory rule  on branches .  
iii. Question concerning the 2015 Customs Code  as amended taking into account the 
WTO Customs Valuation Agreement.  
 JOB/ACC/COM/11  
 
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  In this regard, the Union of the Comoros and the United States agreed to hold a meeting 
with experts from both countries to finalize and submit to Parliament in the first quarter of 
2023 a text including additions covering the provisions of the WTO Agreement.  
 
iv. Both parties agreed to work together to update the Action Plan (WT/ACC/COM/23/Rev.5).  
 
6. As regards a dministrative and legislative measures adopted by Comoros in accordance with 
the commitments made during the previous negotiations : 
- A draft customs valuation law supplementing the Customs Code has been prepared and 
circulated ;  
- Ministerial Orders implementing the Foreign Trade Law have been prepared and circulated 
for consultation. By the time we return to capital, all of these Orders will have been signed 
and implemented.  
7. The progress made by Comoros in both the bilateral and the multilateral negotiating tracks 
opens the way for the conclusion of our country's WTO accession negotiatio ns through the adoption 
of the draft final report. The re plies to the questions posed will significantly contribute to the final 
version of this report.  
8. I am confident that you will agree that Comoros has done its utmost to conclude the 
negotiations and ca lmly contemplate its accession to the WTO without any further delays . 
9. The state of play in the bilateral negotiations for Comoros' WTO accession is as follows:  
10. In addition to the six agreements signed (United States, European Union, Canada, Brazil, 
Oman  and Japan), the Union of the Comoros signed a bilateral agreement with India in October  last 
year. Consultations are being held to reach  a compromise on offers for goods and services with a 
view to facilitating the WTO Secretariat's efforts to consolidate such offers.  
11. A bilateral meeting with the United States yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) provided 
clarification regarding four points of interest. The two parties have agreed on t echnical meetings to 
clarify a number of commitments in the action plan and to  discuss the provision of  specific assistance 
relating  to certain legislative provisions on copyright and customs valuation.  
12. We have noted with satisfaction the United States' constructive spirit and its willingness to 
support our country in its efforts to  conclude the negotiations so as to expedite our accession to the 
WTO.  
13. During th e WTO accession process, Comoros has relied on technical assistance, particularly 
from the United States, to help it fulfil the obligations arising from its accession to the Organization . 
14. Regarding  WTO contributions, I am pleased to inform you that the Minister of Finance has 
initiated the procedure for the Treasury to make a payment  by transfer, and Comoros will shortly be 
able to provide physical proof of this transaction.  
15. I cannot conclude this statement without reiterating our appreciation and sincere gratitude to 
our key partners in this accession process, in particular the Sultanate of Oman, the People's Republic 
of China and the WTO Secretariat. We thank them for their valuable assistance on this long road to 
accession.  
Thank you for your kind attention.  
 
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