Introduction

The Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia applied for accession to the World Trade Organization in October 1994. At its meeting on 21 December 1994, the Preparatory Committee for the WTO established a Working Party to examine the application of Cambodia to accede to the World Trade Organization under Article XII of the Marrakech Agreement establishing the WTO. In May 1999 Cambodia submitted its Memorandum on Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR) to the Accessions Division of the WTO and based on this its four main trading partner countries submitted a series of questions. Cambodia’s response to these was submitted to the WTO Secretariat in November 2000, opening the way for the detailed accession negotiations, which commenced in May 2001 and which were completed a little more than two years later in July 2003.

On 22 July 2003 Cambodia submitted its acceptance of the terms and conditions of membership set out in the Accession Protocol, which was approved by the Ministerial Conference on 11 September 2003 and signed by Cambodia subject to ratification. The National Assembly and the Senate ratified this Protocol in September 2004 following the formation of the new Royal Government of Cambodia—after a year-long protracted political negotiation. Cambodia became a member of WTO on 13 October 2004 thirty days after it notified WTO that its parliament had ratified the Protocol. Cambodia, along with Nepal, was the first Least Developed Country (LDC) to have succeeded in acceding to the WTO, since WTO’s transformation from the GATT in 1995.

Cambodia’s accession to the WTO was a defining moment both for the country and the WTO. Cambodia, for its part, had finally been able to join the worldwide family of trading nations. Cambodia restored relations with the IMF and World Bank more than a decade ago, and joined ASEAN in 1999. Joining WTO has marked the final step in bringing Cambodia back into the major regional and international organizations that govern international economic relations.

For the WTO this was proof that it was able to accept LDCs as new members. It could also be presented as a satisfactory response to the long-standing demand by LDC members that accession procedures for LDCs be simplified and streamlined. At the signing of the first bilateral EU-Cambodia agreement on 19 June 2003, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, commented:

This agreement is a clear demonstration of Europe’s commitment to facilitate the accession of least developed countries to the WTO. The least developed countries have asked for this, it is reasonable, and we, the richer members of the WTO, have to deliver.

Cambodia was the first least-developed country to conclude an accession negotiation in the WTO. Other poor countries entered the WTO’s predecessor, the GATT having effectively made no commitments. Thus, Cambodia cannot be regarded as a “free rider” (taking the benefits of WTO membership without making its own contribution).

Comment(s)

There are [0] comment(s) for this entry. Post a comment.