EU and Liberia sign deal on WTO accession

On 16 July 2015, the European Commission announced that the EU and Liberia had signed a deal concluding their bilateral negotiations on Liberia’s accession to the WTO. The announcement said that accession to the WTO is expected to make a lasting contribution to the process of economic reform and sustainable development in Liberia. The announcement said that:

The bilateral deal – signed by EU Ambassador to the WTO Angelos Pangratis and Liberia’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Axel M. Addy – defines the level of market access that Liberia will grant to EU goods and services in the WTO. These commitments will be then embodied in the future Protocol of Accession of Liberia to the WTO.

The Republic of Liberia applied for WTO membership in mid-2007. The accession talks started half a year later with the establishment of a dedicated Working Party made of interested WTO members. In order to join the WTO, Liberia must complete bilateral negotiations with each of them and obtain the endorsement of the entire Working Party.
***
As a Least Developed Country, all Liberia’s products (except arms) enjoy duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market. Trade between the EU and Liberia will be soon also governed by the Economic Partnership Agreement that the EU has initialed with 16 West African states last year.