Tajikistan informed the World Trade Organization on January 31, 2102 that it had ratified its accession package.
We will recall that Tajikistan’s accession package contains the Working Party report outlining its reformed trade regime and its commitments as a WTO member, its market access schedules on goods and services, the General Council Decision and the Protocol of Accession.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s website, Tajikistan will become the 159th member of the Organization on March 2, 2013.
Tajikistan applied for WTO membership on May 29, 2001 and the Working Party on the accession of Tajikistan was established by the General Council on 18 July 2001. Tajikistan”s negotiations to join the WTO lasted for 11 years and Tajikistan concluded its membership negotiations on October 26 2012, when the Working Party adopted the accession package.
As a result of the negotiations, Tajikistan has agreed to undertake a series of important commitments to further liberalize its trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world economy.
The WTO paved the way for Tajikistan’s membership by approving its accession package on December 10, 2012.
At a ceremony in Geneva on December 10, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed the protocol on Tajikistan”s admission to the international organization.
Tajikistan becomes the 159th member of the WTO and the second Central Asian country to be admitted. Kyrgyzstan became a WTO member in 1998.
