03/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - Kazakhstan becomes 162nd WTO member. Kazakhstan became the WTO's 162nd member country on 30 November, one month after its “Instrument of Acceptance” was deposited with the multilateral organisation, on 31 October. The country's accession package was finalised on 10 June and approved by the working party members on 22 June, then by the General Council on 27 July (see EUROPE 11368). Kazakhstan applied to join the WTO in 1996. In its accession process, in which the EU was closely involved, it adopted and/or amended some 50 laws in order to comply with WTO rules and concluded 29 bilateral agreements on goods market access, which involved commitments fixing its tariffs on all goods at an average of 6.1% (7.6% for agricultural goods and 5.9% for industrial goods) and 15 bilateral agreements on service market access, involving specific commitments in 10 service sectors and 116 sub-sectors. (EH)