DG Okonjo-Iweala welcomes Comoros as 165th WTO member
Comoros joined the WTO on 21 August as its 165th member, after 17 years of negotiating its accession terms with WTO members. It is the 10th least-developed country (LDC) to accede to the WTO through negotiations. Comoros also announced its formal acceptance of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
The 30-day countdown to Comoros’s WTO membership was activated when Ambassador Sultan Chouzour handed Comoros’s instrument of acceptance of the Protocol of Accession to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at a meeting of the General Council on 22 July 2024.
Comoros submitted its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies at the same time, bringing the total number of acceptances of the Agreement to 82.
“I am particularly proud to welcome Comoros as the newest member of the WTO. Comoros can use WTO accession as a vehicle for modernization, economic transformation and a complement to the country’s regional integration agenda on the African continent,” Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. “Comoros’s membership will add a valuable voice to the multilateral trading system as it has shown commitment to the values of the WTO and has clearly demonstrated willingness to adapt to its rules and principles.”
The Director-General thanked WTO members for their support throughout the accession process, and said that “they will continue to accompany Comoros in the post-accession phase.”
WTO members officially approved the WTO accession of Comoros during a special ceremony at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi on 26 February.
Comoros applied for WTO membership on 22 February 2007 and the Working Party was established in October 2007. Members of the Working Party concluded the negotiations on 9 January 2024. Following approval by WTO members at MC13, Comoros’s National Assembly approved the Protocol of Accession on 10 June.
The list of Comoros’s commitments is available here.
Twenty-two governments, including eight African countries, are still negotiating their WTO accession. Timor-Leste’s WTO membership is due to become effective on 30 August. The full list of WTO observers can be found here.
Learn more about Comoros’s WTO accession negotiations here.
Learn how to become a member of the WTO here.
Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies
Adopted by consensus at the WTO’s 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12), held in Geneva on 12-17 June 2022, the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies sets new binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks.
For the Agreement to enter into force, two-thirds of WTO members must formally accept the Protocol of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies by depositing an instrument of acceptance with the WTO.
The Agreement recognizes the needs of developing economies and LDCs, and establishes a Fund to provide technical assistance and capacity-building to help them implement the Agreement.
The Agreement prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, for fishing overfished stocks, and for fishing on the unregulated high seas.
Members also agreed at MC12 to continue negotiations on outstanding issues, with a view to adopting additional provisions that would further enhance the disciplines of the Agreement.
The full text of the Agreement can be accessed here.
The list of members that have deposited their instruments of acceptance is available here.
