SUMMARY RECORD OF THE Fourth meeting
HELD AT THE BALI NUSA DUA CONVENTION CENTRE (BNDCC),
BALI, Indonesia on wednesday, 4 december, AT 4.30 P.M.
Chairperson: His Excellency Mr Gita Wirjawan (Indonesia)
1 Action by Ministers (Agenda Item
2) - Accession of the republic of Yemen
1.1. The Chairman welcomed H.E.
Dr Saadaldeen Talib, Minister of Industry and Trade of The Republic of Yemen,
and the entire Delegation of Yemen. He
recalled that on 26 September 2013 the Working Party on the Accession of Yemen had
adopted its Report, which was before the Ministerial Conference in documents
WT/ACC/YEM/42 - WT/MIN(13)/4 and Addenda 1 and 2.
1.2. Deputy Director-General David
Shark, on behalf of Mr Hartmut Röben, Chairman of the Working Party on the
Accession of Yemen, introduced the Report of the Working Party. On behalf
of Mr Röben, he welcomed Minister Saadaldeen Talib and the Delegation of Yemen.
1.3. He recalled that Yemen had applied
for WTO Membership in April 2000. The 1st
Working Party Meeting had been held on 30 November 2004. Mr Röben had had the rare honour of chairing
an Accession Working Party from start to finish. The Working Party had met 11
times. It had concluded its mandate with the adoption, ad
referendum, of Yemen's Draft Accession Package at its 11th
and Final Working Party Meeting on 26 September 2013.
1.4. He noted that the Report on the
Accession of Yemen before the Ministerial Conference that day was the
negotiated result between the Government of the Republic of Yemen and WTO
Members. It had been adopted by consensus, ad referendum,
in accordance with WTO Accession Best Practices. The contents of Yemen's
Accession Package safeguarded and strengthened the multilateral trading system. They were consistent with the Guidelines for
LDCs' Accessions, and would promote the trade and development priorities of
Yemen. The agreed terms and conditions for the WTO Accession of Yemen were
contained in the following documents: (a) Report of the Working Party (WT/MIN(13)/4);
(b) Schedule of Concessions and Commitments on Goods (WT/MIN(13)/4/Add.1); and (c)
Schedule of Specific Commitments on Services (WT/MIN(13)/4/Add.2).
1.5. The Appendix to the Report
reproduced the draft Decision for consideration and adoption by the Ministerial
Conference and the Protocol on the Accession of Yemen.