Overview of Accessions › english › thewto_e › acc_e › ... · Session 2: Overview of Accessions. Observer status • Requests to be made in accordance with the Guidelines for

Session 2: Overview of Accessions

Overview of Accessions

Dimitar Bratanov, Accessions Division, WTO


1. The basic procedures

2. The track record to date

3. The state of play in ongoing accessions

4. What is expected of acceding governments?


1. The basic procedures


A closer relationship with the WTO?

• Request for observer status in the General Council and its subsidiary bodies

OR

• Request for accession under Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement


Observer status

• Requests to be made in accordance with the Guidelines for Observer Status forGovernments in the WTO (Annex 2 of the Rules of Procedure for Sessions of theMinisterial Conference and Meetings of the General Council, WT/L/161).

• Governments have to:– express an intent to initiate negotiations for WTO accession within 5 years;– provide a description of economic and trade policies, including future reforms.

• 10 governments have been granted observer status under these procedures.

• Not to be confused with ad hoc observer status for WTO Ministerial Conferences.


WTO Accession: legal basis

Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the WTO (the Marrakesh Agreement)

1. Any State or separate customs territory possessing full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations and the other matters provided for in this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements may accede to this Agreement, on terms to be agreed between it and the WTO. Such accession shall apply to this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements annexed thereto.

2. Decisions on accession shall be taken by the Ministerial Conference. The Ministerial Conference shall approve the agreement on the terms of accession by a two-thirds majority of the Members of the WTO.

3. Accession to a Plurilateral Trade Agreement shall be governed by the provisions of that Agreement.


WTO Accession: legal basis

“…by a two-thirds majority…”

• In practice, since 1995 decisions on accession have beentaken by consensus in accordance with WTO practice(Article IX:1 of the Marrakesh Agreement).

• Paragraph 2 of Article XII refers to the final stage of theaccession process, when the accession documents areadopted by the Ministerial Conference (or by the GeneralCouncil as per Article IV:2 of the Marrakesh Agreement).


WTO Accession: legal basis“…on terms to be agreed…”

The specific terms of accession are unique to each acceding government.

WHY

• Legal/institutional/economic frameworks of acceding governments are different.• Accession negotiations are WTO Member-driven and Members’ interests vary.• The WTO rulebook and “acquis” evolve over time.• …

Note: while the specific terms agreed in each accession may vary, the accessionprocess per se has remained largely unchanged since 1995.


The WTO Accession ProcessStage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3


Stage 1: Working Party Establishment

• The General Council considers accession requests andestablishes Working Parties to examine applicationsand elaborate terms of membership.

• Working Party membership open to all WTO Members.

• Consultations on the selection of a Working PartyChairperson begin after circulation of all documentsnecessary for holding the 1st Working Party meeting.

• Observer status automatically granted to the AccedingGovernment upon Working Party establishment.

• Annual financial contribution of approx. CHF 30’000. Establishment of the Working Party on the Accessions of Somalia and Timor-Leste


Stage 2: Fact-finding & negotiationStage 2 – the substantive phase of the process – consists of 2 basic negotiating tracks:

– Multilateral negotiations;

– Bilateral negotiations;

NOTE: plurilateral discussions are also afeature in many accessions

These negotiating tracks proceed more or less in parallel.

The accession procedures are outlined in WT/ACC/22/Rev.1, a document developedby the Secretariat in consultation with Members as a practical, non-binding guide.


Stage 3: Final steps

• Adoption of the Accession Package by Working Party

• General Council/Ministerial Conference approval

• Domestic ratification /acceptance

• Membership

THE ACCESSION PACKAGE

• Decision• Protocol

1

• Report of the Working Party2

• Schedule of Concessions & Commitments on Goods3

• Schedule of Specific Commitments on Services

4


2. The track record to date


Map of WTO Members and Observers

Most recent acceding government: Curaçao (March 2020)


Completed (36) and ongoing (23) accessions (LDCs in red)

Africa Europe/CIS Asia Pacific Middle East America

3 (2) 16 11 (6) 4 (1) 2

Cape Verde*, 2008Seychelles, 2015 Liberia*, 2016

Bulgaria, 1996 Kyrgyz Rep., 1998 Latvia, 1999 Estonia, 1999 Georgia, 2000Albania, 2000Croatia, 2000Lithuania, 2001Moldova, 2001Armenia, 2003FYR of Macedonia, 2003 Ukraine, 2008Montenegro, 2012Russian Fed. 2012 Tajikistan, 2013Kazakhstan, 2015

Mongolia, 1997 China, 2001Chinese Taipei, 2002Nepal*, 2004 Cambodia*, 2004 Tonga, 2007Viet Nam, 2007Samoa*, 2012 Vanuatu*, 2012Lao PDR*, 2013 Afghanistan*, 2016

Jordan, 2000 Oman, 2000Saudi Arabia 2005Yemen*, 2014

Ecuador, 1996Panama, 1997

9 (6) 6 2 (2) 4 1

Algeria, 1987Sudan*, 1994Ethiopia*, 2003Libya, 2004Sao Tomé & Principe*, 2005Comoros*, 2007Equatorial Guinea, 2008Somalia*, 2016South Sudan, 2017

Belarus, 1993Uzbekistan, 1994Azerbaijan, 1997Andorra, 1997 Bosnia & Herzegovina, 1999Serbia, 2005

Bhutan*, 1999Timor-Leste*, 2016

Lebanese Rep. , 1999 Iraq, 2004 I.R. of Iran, 2005 Syrian Arab Rep., 2010

Bahamas, 2001Curaçao, 2020

What has been done so far? 36 accessions completed to date(By accession date)

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

-Ecuador-Bulgaria

-Mongolia-Panama

-Kyrgyz Republic

-Latvia-Estonia

20

00

-Jordan-Georgia-Albania-Oman-Croatia

20

01

-Lithuania-Moldova -China

20

02

-Chinese Taipei

20

03

-Armenia-FYR Macedonia

20

04

-Nepal-Cambodia

-Saudi Arabia

20

05

20

07

-Viet Nam-Tonga

20

08

-Ukraine-CaboVerde

-Montenegro-Samoa-Russian Federation-Vanuatu

20

12

-Lao PDR-Tajikistan

20

13

--Yemen

20

14

20

15

-Seychelles-Kazakhstan

-Liberia-Afghanist

20

16


Shares of world trade


0

200

400

600

800

Article XII Members Rest of the World

Growth rate of merchandise exports of Article XII Members

Growth rate of merchandise imports of Article XII Members

WTO accession results (1/3)

0

300

600

900

-5 years WTO accession

+5 years +10 years +15 years +20 years



0

50

100

150

200

250

-5 years WTO accession +5 years


Growth rate of commercial services exports of Article XII Members

(1996-2011)

0

50

100

150

200

250

-5 years WTO accession +5 years


Growth rate of commercial services exports of Article XII Members

(2012-2018)



Average DTF Changes for a Member

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

-5 years WTO accession

+5 years +10 years +15 years +20 years


Growth rate of FDI inward stocks of Article XII Members

Improvements in Business Environment


Chart1

During AcessionDuring AcessionDuring Acession

After AccessionAfter AccessionAfter Accession

2004-20142004-20142004-2014

Improved

Unchanged

Declined

Indicators

5.33

2.42

1.33

6.45

2.27

1.27

7

1.67

1.33

Sheet1

ImprovedUnchangedDeclined

During Acession5.332.421.33

After Accession6.452.271.27

2004-201471.671.33

To resize chart data range, drag lower right corner of range.


3. The state of play

What remains to be done? 23 ongoing accessions, plus ….(By application date)

19

87

19

93

19

96

19

99

19

97

20

01

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

07

21

05

-Sudan -Uzbekistan

-Belarus

-Iran

-Azerbaijan-Andorra

-Lebanese Republic-Bosnia & Herzegovina-Bhutan

-Bahamas-Syrian Arab Rep. -Libya

-Ethiopia

-Iraq-Serbia

-Sao Tomé & Principe

-Comoros-Equatorial Guinea

-Timor-Leste-Somalia

20

17

-South Sudan

-Algeria

19

94

-Curaçao

20

20


Multilateral negotiations (Rules)

Bilateral negotiations (Market Access)

• Curaçao• Equatorial

Guinea• Libya• Sao Tomé and

Principe*• Syrian Arab

Rep.

• Bahamas• Ethiopia*• Sudan*

• Algeria • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Bhutan* • Bosnia &

Herzegovina • Comoros* • Lebanese Rep. • Serbia

Working Party

Established

Factual Summary of Points Raised

Memorandum on Foreign Trade

Regime

Draft Working Party Report

• Andorra • Iran• Iraq• Timor-Leste*• Somalia*• South Sudan*• Uzbekistan

(No documents submitted)

Initial Goods & Services Offer

• Andorra • Ethiopia*

(revised goods offer)

Revised Goods & Services Offer

• Algeria • Azerbaijan• Bahamas • Belarus • Bhutan* • Bosnia and Herzegovina• Comoros*• Lebanese Rep.• Serbia • Sudan*• Uzbekistan

Draft Goods and Services

Schedules

Accession negotiations – state of play

Application

• Turkmenistan(application for observership)


General Status Accession WP (establishment) Last WP meeting Next WP meeting(based on Secretariat’s assessment)

Strategic focus 1. Belarus (1993) 2. Bosnia & Herzegovina (1999)3. Comoros* (2007)4. Serbia (2005)

12WPM, July 201913WPM, February 2018 4WPM, March 201813WPM, June 2013

2nd half of 20202nd half of 2020Q3 2020TBD

Work in progressOn-going efforts to move the WP process

1. Azerbaijan (1997)2. Bahamas (2001)3. Ethiopia* (2003)4. South Sudan* (2017)5. Sudan* (1994)

14WPM, July 20174WPM, April 20194WPM, January 2020 1WPM, March 20194WPM, July 2017

2nd half of 2020 TBD2nd half of 2020 TBDTBD

Reactivation Efforts to resume the WP process after at least 5 years

1. Iraq (2004)2. Lebanese Republic (1999) 3. Uzbekistan (1994)

2WPM, April 20087WPM, October 20093WPM, October 2005

TBDTBD7 July 2020

Activation 1st WP yet to be held

1. Curaçao (2020)2. Equatorial Guinea (2008) 3. Somalia* (2016)4. Timor-Leste* (2016)

No WP held to dateNo WP held to dateNo WP held to dateNo WP held to date

TBDTBDTBD31 July 2020 (TBC)

Inactive No WP held at least during last 5 years

Algeria (1987), Andorra (1997), Bhutan* (1999), Iran (2005), Libya (2004), Sao Tomé and Principe* (2005), Syrian Arab Republic (2010)

Notes: * LDCs

Accessions by status


WTO accessions: new “themes”

A larger number of active accessions• New applications – Somalia, Timor-Leste, South Sudan, Curaçao (+

Turkmenistan)• Resumption of accession Working Parties after years of inactivity

• Comoros (2016), Belarus (2017), Sudan (2017), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018), Bahamas (2018), Ethiopia (2020), Uzbekistan (2020)

Increased role for technical assistance?• Members’ broad support for WTO accessions, at WP level or through

technical assistance• Strong interest & support from international partners, e.g. IMF, World

Bank, ITC, African Union/UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Arab Monetary Fund

Fragility and conflict (trade as an engine of peace?)


4. What is expected of acceding governments?


WTO Accessions – what are the yardsticks?

Average length of accession: 10 years and 2 months (and 12 years and 2 months for LDCs)

• Shortest: 2 years and 8 months (Kyrgyz Republic, 1998) • Longest: 19 years and 9 months (Kazakhstan and Seychelles, 2015)

Accession commitments• Number of accession commitment paragraphs in Working Party Report: 17

(Mongolia) – 163 (Russian Federation) • Tariff concessions: 5.1% (Montenegro) - 39.7% (Vanuatu) for all products;

7.6% - 43.7% (AG), 4.3% - 39.1% (Non-AG)• AG Domestic Support & Export Subsidies: 5, 8.5, 10% de minimis levels;

AMS (various); export subsidies bound at zero• Number of services sub-sectors with commitments: 37 (Mongolia) – 147

(Moldova)


Policy Framework for LDC Accessions

2002 General Council Guidelines for LDCs’ Accessions (WT/L/508)– Market Access, WTO Rules, Process, technical assistance

2012 General Council Decision to “strengthen, streamline and operationalize” the 2002 Guidelines” (WT/L/508/Add.1)– Benchmarks on market access on Goods and Services– Transparency in accession negotiations– “Facilitation” by Chairs of SCLDC & Accession Working Parties – Special and differential treatment & transition periods– Technical assistance and capacity building


Length of WTO Accession Process: From 1st Working Party to Membership

* Acceded as an LDC. On average, 9 LDC accessions took 5 years and 4 months

Average: 6 years

and 7 months


Length of WTO accession process: From application to membership, in years

* Acceded as an LDC. On average, 9 LDC accessions took 12 years and 6 months

Average: 10y.04m

Average: 10 years

and 2 months


31Tariff commitments: agricultural products

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

25.5

18.9

35.5

27.7

12.3

34.6

17.5

23.7

11.79.4 9.4

28

15.2

12.2

15.815.314.7

11.3

28.1

41.4

12.4

18.5 19.2

10.7

19.3

10.8

25.8

10.8

43.6

19.3

10.1

24.9

17

7.6

23.8

33.7

(NOTE: average final bound rates, %)


32Tariff commitments: non-agricultural products

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

21.1

17.3

23.6 22.9

6.7

9.47.3

15.2

6.5 6.65.5

11.6

8.4

6

9.1

4.8

7.56.2

17.7

23.7

10.510.3

17.3

5

15.3

4.3

20.4

7.3

39.1

18.7

7.6

20.5

8.3

5.9

27.2

10.3

(NOTE: average final bound rates, %)


Services: specific commitmentsN

o. o

f ser

vice

s sub

-sec

tors


No.

Article XII Members

Length of accession process

# of WP Meetings

held

# of documents

issued

# of questions

replied

# of legislation

submitted to WP

1 Ecuador (1996) 3yr.4mo 10 11 111 69

2 Bulgaria (1996) 10yr.1mo 9 7 276 26

3 Mongolia (1997) 5yr.3mo 5 12 146 33

4 Panama (1997) 5yr.11mo 5 23 502 45

5 Kyrgyz Rep. (1998) 2yr.8mo 6 63 952 155

6 Latvia (1999) 5yr.2mo 6 49 396 77

7 Estonia (1999) 5yr.8mo 9 44 490 77

8 Jordan (2000) 6yr.3mo 5 53 929 52

9 Georgia (2000) 3yr.11mo 3 56 512 53

10 Albania (2002) 7yr.9mo 8 95 607 66

11 Oman (2000) 4yr.5mo 6 52 808 55

12 Croatia (2000) 7yr.1mo 6 94 919 111

13 Lithuania (2001) 7yr.3 mo 5 90 640 167

14 Moldova (2001) 7yr.7mo 6 84 861 124

15 China (2001) 14yr.9 mo 18 71 441 2,300

16 Chinese Taipei (2002) 9yr.4mo 11 50 960 96

17 Armenia (2003) 9yr.2mo 5 42 434 87

18 N. Macedonia (2003) 8yr.4mo 5 52 829 132

No.

Article XII Members

Length of accession process

# of WP Meetings

held

# of documents

issued

# of questions

replied

# of legislation submitted to

WP

19 Nepal* (2004) 14yr.10mo 3 34 466 24

20 Cambodia* (2004) 9yr.10mo 5 48 460 85

21 Saudi Arabia (2005) 12yr.5mo 14 98 1218 95

22 Viet Nam (2007) 12yrs 14 105 3511 184

23 Tonga (2007) 11yr.8mo 3 36 416 74

24 Ukraine (2008) 14yr5mo 17 225 3810 385

25 Cabo Verde*(2008) 8yrs 6 69 888 73

26 Montenegro (2012) 7yr2mo 8 67 1015 114

27 Samoa* (2012) 13yr10mo 2 52 914 123

28 Russian Fed. (2012) 19yr1mo 31 187 2566 529

29 Vanuatu* (2012) 17yr1mo 2 36 343 123

30 Lao PDR* (2013) 15yrs 10 105 1224 159

31 Tajikistan (2013) 11yr8mo 9 71 1296 137

32 Yemen* (2014) 13yr11mo 11 98 1164 58

33 Seychelles (2015) 19yr.9mo 7 110 1043 287

34 Kazakhstan (2015) 19yr.9mo 20 229 1900 412

35 Liberia* (2016) 8yr.7mo 4 39 264 102

36 Afghanistan* (2016) 11yr.7mo 5 62 773 75

Accession in numbers: completed accessions


2,3001,166

449412

174155141137135133133126112107106

773326

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500

China (2001)Russian Federation (2012)

Ukraine (2008)Kazakhstan (2015)

Moldova (2001)Kyrgyz Republic (1998)

Tajikistan (2013)Lithuania (2001)

Croatia (2000)The FRY of Macedonia (2003)

Montenegro (2012)Estonia (1999)

Armenia (2003)Albania (2000)Georgia (2000)

Latvia (1999)Mongolia (1997)Bulgaria (1996)

Legislation enacted by Article XII Members

M. Lekic and C. Osakwe, "WTO Rules, Accession Protocols and Mega-Regionals: Complementarity and Governance in the Rules-Based Global Economy" in A. Kireyev and C. Osakwe (eds.) Trade Multilateralism in the Twenty-First Century – Building the Upper Floors of the Trading System Through WTO Accessions, 2017, p. 137.


Number of commitments undertaken by Article XII Members

22 27 1824 29 22 24

29 29 29 26 27 28 28

168

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163

30 26

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Frequency of commitments undertaken by Article XII Members


In the vanguard of WTO reform?

1500+ accession specific commitments undertaken by 36 Article XII Members: tailored to individual circumstances, but patterns have emerged.

“WTO+” commitments: obligations to abide by the rules created by the commitment paragraph and not contained in the multilateral trade agreements.

Example 1: Before the Trade Facilitation Agreement’s entry into force, WTO accessions contributed 37 commitments on transparency in dedicated “Transparency” section of WP Reports and 200+ commitments on transparency under other WP Report headings (RoO, SPS,TBT, TRIPS…).

Example 2: While a multilateral decision to end agriculture export subsidies was taken in 2015, all Article XII Members have committed to bind such subsidies at zero since 1996 .

Accessions rule-making = a counterpart to multilateral rule-making? E.g. transparency, export subsidies

Setting the stage for future negotiations = pressure to level the playing-field?


Acceding Government• Foster and consolidate domestic reform• Economic diversification and modernization• Better integration into global supply chains• Predictable and transparent rules • Participate in the shaping of global trade rules• Positive signalling to foreign and domestic investors• Improve economic resilience post- COVID-19

WTO• Deepen international cooperation for trade• Expand market access for the WTO membership• Extend the reach of WTO rules and strengthen their application• Facilitate smoother trade flows• Achieve universality of the multilateral trading system

The aim and rationale of WTO accession

• The accession process aims to ensure that an Acceding Government’s legislationand practices will be compliant with WTO rules and that it becomes a full andeffective player from its first day of membership.

• The WTO accession process involves learning and preparation for WTOmembership. It benefits both the Acceding Government and the WTO.

• Why join the WTO?


Best practices• Early identification of benefits and interests, which should be

reflected in a negotiating strategy

• Impact assessment of WTO Membership

• Assessment of trade-related legislation and practices to determine conformity with WTO rules

• Establishment of a national steering committee (e.g. ministries, private sector, and civil society representatives)

• Involvement of lawmakers for sustainability of reforms, transparency and domestic mobilization.

• Identification of a 'model accession’

• Use of technical assistance & capacity building


Accession-Related Technical AssistanceTechnical Assistance and Capacity building activities include inter alia:

• National seminars;• Sessions on accessions in advanced trade policy courses, regional courses

and introductory courses for LDCs;• Workshops;• Technical missions;• Establishment/upgrade of WTO reference centres;• E-learning courses and e-lecture series;• Outreach dialogue with WTO groupings;• Participation in conferences; and• Customized briefings on accessions for delegations (including non-

residents in Geneva) are also provided by the Secretariat.


[email protected]

Questions?

Overview of AccessionsSlide Number 2Slide Number 3A closer relationship with the WTO?Observer statusWTO Accession: legal basisWTO Accession: legal basisWTO Accession: legal basisThe WTO Accession ProcessStage 1: Working Party Establishment�Stage 2: Fact-finding & negotiationStage 3: Final stepsSlide Number 13Map of WTO Members and Observers�Completed (36) and ongoing (23) accessions �(LDCs in red)What has been done so far? �36 accessions completed to date�(By accession date)Shares of world tradeSlide Number 18Slide Number 19Slide Number 20Slide Number 21What remains to be done? �23 ongoing accessions, plus ….�(By application date)Slide Number 23Slide Number 24WTO accessions: new “themes”�Slide Number 26WTO Accessions – what are the yardsticks?Policy Framework for LDC AccessionsLength of WTO Accession Process: �From 1st Working Party to Membership Length of WTO accession process: �From application to membership, in yearsTariff commitments: agricultural productsTariff commitments: non- agricultural productsServices: specific commitmentsSlide Number 34Slide Number 35Number of commitments �undertaken by Article XII MembersFrequency of commitments �undertaken by Article XII MembersIn the vanguard of WTO reform?The aim and rationale of WTO accessionBest practicesAccession-Related �Technical AssistanceSlide Number 42

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Overview of Accessions › english › thewto_e › acc_e › ... · Session 2: Overview of Accessions. Observer status • Requests to be made in accordance with the Guidelines for