Ethiopia is on the verge of a significant milestone in its two-decade bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). The country has concluded 11 of the 17 bilateral market access negotiations initiated so far, with six remaining deals nearing completion. This development was announced by Ethiopia's Minister of Trade and Regional Integration and Chief Trade Negotiator, Yasmin Wohabrebbi Saeed, during the eighth meeting of the Working Party on Ethiopia's Accession, held in Geneva on November 9 and 10.
Minister Yasmin emphasized that the new Ethiopian government, formed in October, has made securing WTO membership as quickly as possible a top political priority. She noted that being a member of the WTO family will serve as an international, legally binding anchor for the country's reforms, guarding against policy reversal and reinforcing predictability, transparency, and institutional credibility. Ethiopia's integration into a predictable and non-discriminatory trading system would strengthen the multilateral trading system and demonstrate that the WTO accession framework can deliver results for least developed countries.
The Ethiopian delegation, which included senior officials from Geneva and Addis Ababa, briefed WTO members on extensive domestic legislative reforms undertaken to support its market access efforts. Since the seventh Working Party meeting in April, Addis Ababa has enacted major legislative and regulatory changes covering foreign exchange and payments, customs administration, taxation, trading rights, and import licensing. The country has also advanced additional draft legislation covering internal and export taxes, other duties and charges, and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS).
WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang commended Ethiopia for maintaining its reform momentum despite the recent government transition. He noted that technical assistance from the Secretariat, in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the International Trade Centre, would continue. Working Party Chair Rebecca Fisher-Lamb of the United Kingdom also praised the substantive progress in bilateral negotiations and urged continued engagement between formal meetings to resolve outstanding multilateral issues.
On the multilateral track, WTO members have until December 8 to submit written questions and comments, after which the Secretariat will revise and streamline the Draft Working Party Report. Once all 17 bilateral agreements are finalized and submitted, the WTO Secretariat will consolidate the commitments into Ethiopia's draft Schedules on Goods and Services for technical verification by the respective negotiating members.
Minister Yasmin called on negotiating partners to adopt a pragmatic approach to concluding the remaining six bilateral agreements, adding that Ethiopia will do its part. She emphasized that integrating Africa's fifth-largest economy, with a market of more than 130 million people, into a predictable and non-discriminatory trading system would strengthen the multilateral trading system.
The conclusion of the remaining bilateral agreements and the finalization of Ethiopia's draft Schedules on Goods and Services will pave the way for the country's accession to the WTO. This development is expected to have a positive impact on Ethiopia's economy and its integration into the global trading system.
Key points
- Ethiopia has concluded 11 of 17 bilateral market access negotiations required for WTO accession.
- The country aims to finalize the remaining six bilateral deals to move forward with its WTO accession bid.
- WTO membership will provide Ethiopia with a legally binding anchor for its reforms and enhance its integration into the global trading system.
