VN membership to WTO in the final 'lap'

30 Mar '06

2 min read

With Viet Nam announcing it has almost completed the two remaining bilateral deals, and following a rush of new laws and multilateral work, the membership negotiation has now pushed “well forward into its final stages”, the chair of the working party said on 27 March 2006.

The working party of over 40 WTO members (counting the EU as one) will now accelerate its discussions with Viet Nam with the aim of producing a revised report in the next few weeks or months.

No date has been set for the next meeting, but chairperson Eirik Glenne (Norway's ambassador) has asked for suggestions in writing in two weeks, which he described as half the usual time.

“This is a reflection of the fact that this accession is now entering an intensive phase,” he said.

Earlier this year, Viet Nam concluded bilateral market access negotiations with New Zealand and Australia, and in the past few days with Honduras and the Dominican Republic, the Vietnamese delegation told the working party.

The only remaining agreements are with the United States and Mexico, said Viet Nam's Trade Vice-Minister and chief negotiator Luong Van Tu (see statement below). Following talks with the US over the weekend, “we're very close to the final deal,” he reported.

The US agreed that there had been “substantial progress”. Mexico also confirmed that it only had a few minor differences left in its bilateral talks with Viet Nam.

At the last meeting in September, Viet Nam had already reported agreement with Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba, the EU, El Salvador, Iceland, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, Paraguay, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and Uruguay.

The bilateral market access talks are only part of the picture. The working party also has to agree on a report covering the new member's actions, obligations and commitments under all WTO agreements.

A second revision of the draft report was circulated on 21 February, and the working party spent most of this meeting going through the latest draft section by section.

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