WTO members negotiating the accession of Comoros and Timor-Leste on 9 and 11 January, respectively, agreed by consensus, ad referendum, on the terms of the countries' WTO membership, paving the way for the least-developed countries to join the organization.
With the conclusion of the Working Party’s mandate, the accession package for both states will be submitted to ministers for a formal decision at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi on 26-29 February.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala congratulated Comoros for successfully completing the technical work on its accession. “It has been 17 years since you filed your initial application for WTO membership, and it is now firmly within your reach. I would like to pay tribute to President [Azali] Assoumani and the country's political leadership who have provided invaluable support for the accession effort since the Working Party first met in 2016. I should also acknowledge the tremendous work done by the country's negotiators and technical experts,” she said.
WTO Deputy Director-General Johanna Hill conveyed the organization's congratulations to Timor-Leste for successfully completing the work at the level of the Working Party. “It is indeed with great satisfaction we witness this year the completion of the Working Party process of a second LDC, this time from Asia, within the same week as Comoros. What a great way to start the new year at this organization as the membership prepares for MC13,” she said.
“The completion of two LDC accessions represents a significant occasion for the WTO. We are opening the door to two new members for the first time since 2016 when Afghanistan and Liberia, both LDCs, joined the organization. Welcoming two members at MC13 will send a strong message to the international community on the relevance and attractiveness of this organization as 22 more governments are wanting to join, including many LDCs and fragile and conflict-affected states,” she added.
Timor-Leste, one of the world's youngest countries after gaining independence in 2002, has completed the accession negotiations in record time for LDC accessions — just over seven years. “What is even more remarkable is that the active negotiation process picked up only in late 2020, during the pandemic. It has moved at a rapid pace since then, driven by Timor-Leste's strong commitment to accession and of course members' unshaken support to the process,” noted DDG Hill.
DG Okonjo-Iweala emphasized the importance of LDCs joining the organization, particularly as it has been more than eight years since the conclusion of a Working Party's mandate (the accession of Afghanistan) — the longest gap in WTO history. “I hope that, in the future, we can do better and move faster, as 22 countries are currently wanting to accede to the WTO.”
In addition to being a member of the African Union, Comoros is a member of both the Francophonie and the Arab League. On the latter, she underlined the significance of WTO members welcoming Comoros as a new member at the next Ministerial Conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Comoros is a least-developed country in the Indian Ocean, with a population of approximately 820,000. The Comoros is the world's leading producer of essence of ylang-ylang, used in manufacturing perfume
The Government of the Union of the Comoros applied for accession to the WTO in February 2007, and the Working Party was established in October 2007. In October 2013, the country submitted its Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime. The first meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of the Union of the Comoros was held on 2 December 2016.
Our Geneva correspondent notes:
A cursory glance at the draft restricted report (WT/ACC/SPEC/TLS/5/Rev.3), seen by WTD, suggests that Timor-Leste seems to have undertaken major commitments like previous least-developed countries that joined the trade body since 2003. It also submitted a corrigendum yesterday clarifying its policies on state trading enterprises.
That corrigendum, for example, says: "The representative of Timor-Leste confirmed that Timor-Leste would ensure that all State-owned, State-invested, and other enterprises with special or exclusive privileges would make purchases of goods and services, which were not intended for governmental use, and sales in international trade, based solely on commercial considerations, e.g. price, quality, marketability and availability, and that the enterprises of other WTO Members would have an adequate opportunity in accordance with customary practice to compete for such purchases or sales.
In addition, Timor-Leste would not influence, directly or indirectly, commercial decisions on the part of State-owned, State invested, and other enterprises with special or exclusive privileges, including on the quantity, value or country of origin of any goods purchased or sold, except in a manner consistent with the WTO Agreement.
The representative of Timor-Leste confirmed that upon accession Timor-Leste would notify and provide information on the activities of all State-owned, State-invested, and other enterprises with special or exclusive privileges in accordance with Article XVII of the WTO General Agreement.”
It is an open secret that during their accession process, LDCs have had to accept burdensome conditions imposed by developed countries such as the United States, the European Union and others, said people familiar with the development.
When Yemen acceded to the WTO on June 26, 2014, Yemen’s trade minister Sadaldeen Talib narrated the range of excruciating commitments that the country had undertaken based on “maverick and unreasonable demands.”
“They (the developed countries) said our tariff lines have to be brought down to zero,” while “a team of facilitators advised us to agree to 5% average tariffs on a range of products.”
He said that, unlike some developing countries, “we don’t have any chips in our pockets while they (the developed countries) have all the chips.”
Timor-Leste's WTO acession is aligned with the country's parallel accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is supported by Indonesia.
The Chair of the Accession Working Party, Ambassador Rui Macieira of Portugal noted. “This is the fastest accession among all the LDCs which have joined the WTO to date, as Timor-Leste has used it as a stepping stone for ASEAN accession, building a strong foundation for this young nation's economic development,” he said.
Located between Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, the island of Timor is the largest of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which lie within the Malay archipelago and has a population of approximately 1,320,000.
East Timor came under Portuguese influence in the sixteenth century, remaining a Portuguese colony until 1975. Internal conflict preceded a unilateral declaration of independence and an Indonesian invasion and annexation. Resistance continued throughout Indonesian rule, and, in 1999, a United Nations–sponsored act of self-determination led to Indonesia relinquishing control of the territory.
After gaining independence in 2002, the Government of Timor-Leste submitted its application for accession to the WTO in November 2016. The Working Party was established in December 2016.
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