Nairobi, 18/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 17 December, the third day of the 10th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the organisation's 162 member countries officially approved Afghanistan's accession to the WTO in the presence of Mohammad Khan Rahmani, Afghanistan's first deputy chief executive. Afghanistan will become the WTO's 36th least developed country (LDC). There are 48 LDCs listed by the United Nations.
“Today is a historic day for the people of Afghanistan who have embraced democratic values and market economy principles. Our WTO membership will cement our long-standing commitment to an open economy, rule of law, good governance, non-discrimination, and market instruments for the development of our economy and private sector, and for the alleviation of poverty. Trade-led growth will create new economic opportunities and jobs, especially for women. It will reduce poverty and increase prosperity. It will certainly contribute in a major way to dramatically reduce extremism and achieve regional peace and security”, Rahmani stated during the accession ceremony.
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo paid tribute to the Afghan government for “having undertaken an extensive programme of domestic reforms to accelerate economic growth despite very challenging circumstances”. “I am confident that WTO membership will contribute to establishing a firm foundation for Afghanistan's future development and prosperity”, he added.
European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström also hailed the “particularly commendable efforts undertaken by Kabul to pass reforms” which have taken place “in a context of political and security difficulties”. She said the EU will host a global ministerial conference on Afghanistan in Brussels at the start of October 2016, aiming to affirm international political and financial support to the country's reform process.
Afghanistan applied to join the WTO in 2004. In its accession process, it moved forward to reforms for transforming its economy and bringing its legislation into line with the WTO's rules. It concluded bilateral agreements at the WTO with nine countries on market access for goods and services (Canada, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, the US and the EU for goods; and Canada, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Taiwan, the US and the EU for services).
These agreements involve tariff concessions and commitments that bind Afghanistan's tariffs for all its products at 13.5% on average (33.6% for agricultural products and 10.3% for industrial products). Afghanistan's export tariffs will also be bound for 243 tariff lines, 29.6% of which will be bound at 10% and 24.2% at 2.5%.
As regards services, Afghanistan took commitments on liberalisation in 11 service sectors (including 104 sub-sectors, among which are telecommunications, insurance, the banking sector and distribution). It also concluded horizontal agreements (such as the right for foreign citizens to lease land from the state for up to 90 years; and a derogation for companies and licence holders from recent legislation on hydrocarbons and minerals requiring them to procure Afghan services that are similar in quality, quantity and price to foreign services).
Afghanistan also committed to join the WTO's information technology agreement (ITA) and took numerous commitments on rules regarding its trading system (including its pricing policy and state trading enterprises) and its import system.
The year after its WTO accession, Afghanistan will also initiate negotiations to join the WTO agreement on public procurement.
The country will have until 30 June 2016 to ratify its WTO accession protocol and will become a fully fledged WTO member 30 days after it has notified the WTO of this ratification.
The EU is one of Afghanistan's main trading partners, accounting for 12% of Afghanistan's imports and 9% of its exports. As an LDC, Afghanistan benefits from duty-free quota-free market access for all its products, under the Everything But Arms initiative. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)