Seychelles closes in on WTO accession |12 September 2014

Seychelles has drawn one step closer to acceding to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) following the signature of its final bilateral agreement.
 
The last outstanding negotiation was signed with the United States of America on September 10, 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland.  Ambassador Vivianne Fock-Tave signed the agreement on behalf of the Seychelles government while Ambassador Michael Punke signed for the United States of America.

With the signing of this last bilateral agreement Seychelles has now overcome the final hurdle toward accession, in what has been a lengthy and arduous, but nevertheless rewarding process.

To recall, Seychelles re-launched its WTO accession process by re-submitting its Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime (MOFTR) in 2008. Since then, Seychelles has signed bilateral agreements with the European Union, Mauritius, Oman, Canada, South Africa, Japan, Thailand and Switzerland as it progressed in its protocol of accession in the 'member-driven' organisation.

Seychelles will now host its eighth working party meeting in Geneva next month, which is expected to be the last, prior to formal acceptance into the organisation.

The acceptance is expected to be made in the December WTO council meeting.

Seychelles initially requested membership to the WTO on May 31, 1995, and unfortunately made very little progress up till 2007.

In 2008, the country re-initiated its accession process, and by 2010, had submitted offers in both goods and services, and also established a working party.

 More than ever, Seychelles found itself somewhat better-equipped to take on the challenge of the accession process, in comparison to 1995.

A glance at our economy as a whole shows that over the past decade our economy has matured, and now comprises a very strong tourism industry, an established fisheries sector and we are showing substantial potential in many other areas.

The accession process may have been lengthy, but it has allowed Seychelles the opportunity to better prepare for WTO membership.

The WTO requires the acceding countries to sign bilateral trade agreements with countries interested in trading with them and they are then required to bring their national laws, regulations and practices into line with the provisions of these agreements. An offer of accession is only given once consensus is reached among interested parties.

The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, but takes an average of about five years for most nations. The longest accession negotiation of a current member is currently that of Russia, which became a member of the WTO on 22 August 2012, 19 years after applying.

The WTO’s membership currently stands at 160 member states, accounting for over 97 percent of the world's total trade.