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Entry Norms for WTO Membership
All World Trade Organization members have joined the organization as a result of negotiation, and
membership consists of a balance of rights and obligations. The process of becoming a World Trade
Organization (WTO) member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of accession are
dependent upon the country's stage of economic development and the current trade regime. The process
takes about five years, on average, but it could be decade for some countries, if the country is less than
fully committed to the process, or if political issues interfere
How to become a member of the WTO?
Article XII of the WTO Agreement states that accession to the WTO will be “on terms to be agreed”
between the acceding government and the WTO. Accession to the WTO is essentially a process of
negotiation. All documentation examined by the accession Working Party during the process of
negotiation remains restricted until completion of the process.
Who can apply?
“Any state or customs territory having full autonomy in the conduct of its trade policies is eligible to
accede to the WTO on terms agreed between it and WTO Members”. (Article XII of the WTO
Agreement.
How to apply?
1) Application
The accession process commences with the submission of a formal written request/application for
accession by the applicant government. This request is considered by the General Council which
establishes a Working Party to examine the accession request and submit the findings to the General
Council for approval. The application is submitted to the WTO in a memorandum.
2) Submission of a memorandum
Compiled By: Prof Nidhi Bajaj, [email protected]
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The applicant government presents a memorandum covering all aspects of its trade and legal regime, its
economy, economic policies, domestic and international trade regulations, and intellectual property
policies to the Working Party. After all necessary background information has been acquired, the
Working Party will begin meeting to focus on issues of discrepancy between the WTO rules and the
Applicant's international and domestic trade policies and laws. The WP determines the terms and
conditions of entry into the WTO for the applicant nation, and may consider transitional periods to
allow countries in complying with the WTO rules.
3) Conditions of entry
After examining, all aspects of the existing trade and legal regimes of the acceding government the
Working Party goes into the substantive part of the multilateral negotiations involved in accessions.
Terms and conditions include commitments to observe WTO rules and disciplines upon accession and
transitional periods required to make any legislative or structural changes where necessary to
implement these commitments.
4) Bilateral negotiations
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 and other policies in goods and service. The results of these bilateral
negotiations are consolidated into a document which is part of the final “accession package”.
5) The “accession package”
The “accession package” consists of three documents which represent the results of both the
multilateral and bilateral phases. These are:
A Report of the Working Party containing a summary of proceedings and conditions of entry
and a Protocol of Accession.
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Schedules of market access commitments in goods and services agreed between the acceding
government and WTO Members.
In conclusion of bilateral talks , the working party finalizes the terms of accession and Sends an
accession package, which includes a summary of all the WP meetings, the Protocol of Accession (a
draft membership treaty), and lists ("schedules") of the member.
6) Approval of the “accession package”
Once both the Working Party's Draft Report and Protocol of Accession and the market access
commitments in goods and services are completed, the “accession package” is adopted at a final formal
meeting of the Working Party. The documents are then presented to the General Council or the
Ministerial Conference for adoption. Once approved by the General Council or the Ministerial
Conference, the accessions package is redistributed as a non-restricted document.
Two final documents will be issued:
The Decision of the General Council
The Protocol of Accession Report which states that the country accedes to the WTO Agreement
defines the Schedules and outlines final provisions for timing of acceptance of the Protocol and
full membership of the WTO.
7) Full membership
Once approved by the General Council of Ministerial Conference, the applicant is then free to
sign the Protocol of Accession stating that it accepts the approved “accessions package”.
Thirty days after the applicant government notifies the WTO Secretariat that it has completed its
ratification procedures, and the applicant government becomes a full Member of the WTO.
Decision-Making Procedure
A distinction is between the normal decision-making procedure and a number of special procedures
Compiled By: Prof Nidhi Bajaj, [email protected]
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for specific decisions. Under both types of procedures, Members invariably take decisions by
consensus/consent. This is said to be a core feature of the WTO. If consensus is not possible, decisions
are made by majority voting. Every Member has one vote, except the European Communities which
has as many votes as the European Union has Member States.
Notwithstanding, the general use of the consensual decision-making procedure, it is not possible for
all Members to negotiate effectively in the WTO institutions. Accordingly, mechanisms have
evolved that allow for negotiations on difficult issues among a restricted number of Members.
Although these mechanisms are critical, they have been criticized by developing country Members
for marginalizing them within the WTO.
The WTO General Council
The WTO has a complex institutional structure. At the highest level is the Ministerial Conference
which sits only for a few days every two years. A level down is the General Council which exercises
the powers of the Ministerial Conference between the latter’s sessions.
The General Council is the WTO’s highest-level decision-making body in Geneva, meeting regularly
to carry out the functions of the WTO. It has representatives (usually ambassadors or equivalent)
from all member governments and has the authority to act on behalf of the ministerial conference.
The General Council also sits as the Dispute Settlement Body and the Trade Policy Review Body.
There are also a number of specialized Councils, committees and working parties at lower levels in
the structure.
The WTO Secretariat is headed by the WTO Director-General (currently Pascal Lamy). The WTO
is however said to be ‘a Member-driven’ organization. This means that the Members - and not the
Director-General or the WTO Secretariat - set the agenda, make proposals and take decisions. The
Director-General and the WTO Secretariat act mainly as an ‘honest broker’ or as a ‘facilitator’ of
the political decision-making processes in the WTO.
Compiled By: Prof Nidhi Bajaj, [email protected]
