Samoa to join World Trade Organisation
The Pacific nation becomes the WTO's 155th member on May 10, some 14 years after it applied.
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Trade with Samoa will become easier after it becomes the 155th member of the World Trade Organisation on May 10.
Samoa applied for WTO membership on April 15, 1998, and informed the WTO it had accepted its membership package on April 10, 2012.
The former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro became a WTO member on April 29.
WTO director-general Pascal Lamy said both countries were now on the path to full membership.
“I look forward to working with Montenegro and Samoa to help them become full and active members of the global trading system,” he said.
The terms of membership include working party reports and schedules of commitments on market access for goods and services.
Under WTO rules, a country becomes a member 30 days after national ratification.
Under its commitments, detailed here, Samoa has agreed to further liberalise its trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world economy, while offering a transparent and predictable environment for trade and foreign investment.
It does not require recourse to any transitional period except on intellectual property rights, transparency, customs valuation, the import ban on left-hand drive vehicles, vehicles older than 12 years and turkey tails and turkey tail products, as well as tax treatment of imported and domestic primary products.
Nevil Gibson
Thu, 03 May 2012
Thu, 03 May 2012
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Samoa to join World Trade Organisation
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