TECHNICAL NOTE
ON THE ACCESSION PROCESS
Note by the
Secretariat
Revision
The present paper has been
updated by the Secretariat to reflect recent accessions. This paper was originally produced in
response to a request by the General Council for a Technical Note on the
Accession Process (WT/GC/M/32).
This paper is organized under
the following headings:
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Page No.
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1.
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Overview
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2
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2.
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Introduction
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5
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3.
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Relevant WTO Provisions
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7
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4.
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The Accession Process
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(a)
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General
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8
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(b)
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Establishment of Working Party
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15
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(c)
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Collection of Factual Information on Acceding Government's Trade
Regime
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15
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(d)
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Negotiation of Terms of Accession
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19
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(e)
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Completion of the Working Party Mandate
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28
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(f)
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Adoption of Working Party Report by General Council, Entry into
Force of Protocol of Accession
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29
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(g)
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Invocation of Article XIII of the WTO Agreement
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29
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5.
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Technical Assistance
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29
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Annex 1
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Status of Working Party Accessions
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33
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Annex 2
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General Council Decisions and Protocols of Accession
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2.1 Decisions and
Protocols
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68
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2.2 Commitments on
Rules
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70
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2.3 Specific
Commitments on Services
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106
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