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Unit 8: World Trade Organization

applicant’s international and domestic trade policies and laws. The working party determines notes
the terms and conditions of entry into the WTO for the applicant nation, and may consider
transitional periods to allow countries some leeway in complying with the WTO rules. The
final phase of accession involves bilateral negotiations between the applicant nation and other
working party members regarding the concessions and commitments on tariff levels and market
access for goods and services. The new member’s commitments are to apply equally to all WTO
members under normal non-discrimination rules, even though they are negotiated bilaterally.
When the bilateral talks conclude, the working party sends to the General Council or Ministerial
Conference an accession package, which includes a summary of all the working party meetings,
the Protocol of Accession (a draft membership treaty), and lists (“schedules”) of the member-to-
be’s commitments. Once the General Council or Ministerial Conference approves of the terms of
accession, the applicant’s Parliament must ratify the Protocol of Accession before it can become
a member.

Notes The inaugural ministerial conference was held in Singapore in 1996.

members and observers

A map of WTO participation includes:
1. Members,
2. Members, dually represented with the European Communities,
3. Observer, ongoing accession,
4. Observer

5. Non-member, negotiations pending, and
6. Non-member.
The WTO has 151 members (almost all of the 123 nations participating in the Uruguay Round
signed on at its foundation, and the rest had to get membership). The 27 states of the European
Union are represented also as the European Communities. WTO members do not have to be full
sovereign nation-members. Instead, they must be a customs territory with full autonomy in the
conduct of their external commercial relations. Thus Hong Kong became a GATT contracting
party, and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) acceded to the WTO in 2002. A number of non-members
have been observers (31) at the WTO and are currently negotiating their membership. With
the exception of the Holy See, observers must start accession negotiations within five years of
becoming observers. Some international intergovernmental organizations are also granted
observer status to WTO bodies. 15 states and 2 territories so far have no official interaction with
the WTO.

8.1.5 agreements

The WTO oversees about 60 different agreements which have the status of international legal
texts. Member countries must sign and ratify all WTO agreements on accession. A list of WTO
agreements can be found here. A discussion of some of the most important agreements follows:

agreement on agriculture (aoa)

The AoA came into effect with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995. The AoA
has three central concepts, or “pillars”: domestic support, market access and export subsidies.

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