Laos WTO Accession Entering Final Straight

More than 15 years after the nation began its accession bid, the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Pascal Lamy has confirmed that Laos is just a month away from being admitted as a full member of the global trade body.

The terms of Laos’s WTO membership were agreed by the countries negotiating with the country, referred to as being among the 'least-developed nations' on September 28, 2012, and its bid will go before a plenary of WTO members for the approval of the General Council on October 26.

"Essentially, the deal is done, but officially it is 'ad referendum' meaning it still needs to be confirmed," the WTO stated.

After a slow start, Laos’s membership talks accelerated into a final sprint with three working party meetings in 2012 - before that the working party had never met more than once a year. Lamy praised members for the acceleration in least-developed country accessions since 2011, stating that "it shows the commitment of the WTO" to poorer nations.

Laos’s Industry and Commerce Minister Nam Viyaketh observed that, during the accession process, Laos amended and enacted more than 90 laws and regulations to comply with WTO rules.

“This process has been long and tedious and very difficult for us," he remarked. "We knew that we were engaged in a difficult exercise of convincing our trade partners of our good will, but also the constraints we are facing as a least developed country with less bargaining power and still relying on ODA [overseas development assistance]."

Laos should meet its objective of being accepted as a new WTO member by the time it hosts an Asia-Europe summit meeting in November 2012, even though a few legal formalities still remain before membership is officially obtained. Subject to approval by the General Council, the nation will become a member thirty days after ratifying the agreement. Viyaketh said he is confident the National Assembly will complete ratification in December.

As part of its accession package, Laos has committed to “bound” tariffs (effectively maximum rates) that average 18.8% for all products - 19.3% on average for agricultural products, and 18.7% for the rest. In addition, Laos has made market access commitments in respect of 10 sectors and 79 sub-sectors.

October 4, 2012

Source: Tax News