Thursday, March 25, 2004
Nepal to enter World Trade Organisation on April 23
Agence France-Presse Geneva, March 25
Nepal will become the 147th member of the World Trade Organisation on April 23, the WTO announced on Thursday.
The Himalayan state submitted its formal acceptance and ratification of WTO membership on Wednesday, lifting the last barrier on the way to accession to the global free trade system, WTO said in a statement.
Nepal is the first least developed country to complete the cumbersome accession procedure by adapting its trading system after complex negotiations with WTO member states.
Although the Geneva-based WTO currently has 30 least-developed country members, the others joined when the organisation was established in 1995 because they belonged to the its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Nepal's membership, along with Cambodia's, had been accepted in principle by ministers from the 146 other countries in September 2003.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.