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Unit 2: World Trade Organization

2.1.5 Accession and Membership Notes

The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of
accession are dependent upon the country’s stage of economic development and current trade
regime. The process takes about five years, on average, but it can last more if the country is less
than fully committed to the process or if political issues interfere. As is typical of WTO procedures,
an offer of accession is only given once consensus is reached among interested parties.

Accession Process
A country wishing to accede to the WTO submits an application to the General Council, and has
to describe all aspects of its trade and economic policies that have a bearing on WTO agreements.
The application is submitted to the WTO in a memorandum which is examined by a working
party open to all interested WTO Members. After all necessary background information has
been acquired, the working party focuses on issues of discrepancy between the WTO rules and
the applicant’s international and domestic trade policies and laws. The working party determines
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.

Members and Observers

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.

2.1.6 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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