 PRESS RELEASE
PRESS/356
11 September 2003
(03-4776)
ACCESSIONS
WTO Ministerial Conference approves Nepal’s membership
The WTO’s Ministerial Conference approved toda y (11 September 2003) by consensus the text of
the Protocol for Nepal’s entry into the WTO. Nepal will be the second least-developed country(LDC) to joint the WTO, after Cambodia, through the full working party process.
Nepal still has to ratify the agreed terms and inform the WTO. Thirty days after that it will become
a member. When these steps are complete, Nepal and Cambodia will bring the WTO’s membership
to 148. Nepal applied to join the WTO in May 1989.  The working party to negotiate the terms of
accession was established in June and after three formal meetings completed its mandate on15 August 2003.
“The completion of Nepal’s accession negotiations is most welcome. Not only does it expand the
number of total WTO members, it also increases the diversity and depth of the WTO community of
members”, said WTO’s Director-General, Supachai Panitchpakdi, commenting on the approval of
Nepal’s accession.
“All accessions, whether big or small, are about creating equal opportunities for growth and
prosperity. Accession and membership of the WTO are, fundamentally, about commitment toimprovement of the standards of living of the citizens, both economically and physically. Indeed
that is the theme of this Ministerial Confer ence and the Doha Development Agenda”, said
Dr Supachai.
After the approval of Nepal’s accession, the head of the Nepalese delegation, Hari Bahadur Basnet,
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said: “It is our conviction that joining thisorganisation would not only enhance our effectiveness and efficiency in trading capacity but would
also result in the expansion of trade, leading to a higher level of growth and enhancement of
quality of life of our people.”
Under the chairmanship of Ambassador Pierre-Lou is Girard of Switzerland, the WTO Accession
Working Party concluded, on 15 August 2003, 14 years of negotiations with Nepal and agreed toforward several hundred pages of legal texts for formal acceptance by the 146 member
governments of the WTO.  The documents adopted today by the Ministerial Conference are the
report of the Working Party for the Accession of Nepal, the protocol of accession, which includesthe terms of membership, and the schedules of Nepal’s commitments on market access for goods
and services.PRESS/356
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Nepal has a population of 23 million and a per capita income of US$240. Agriculture is the main
source of income and employment, and accounts for 41% of GDP and more than 80% of
employment. Tourism is one of the most import services sectors and contributes about 12% of the
total foreign exchange and 3.8% of GDP. Nepal has been increasingly developing hydroelectricenergy resources. India is the most  important trading partner of Nepal.
According to the latest WTO data, Nepal's merchandise exports were US$645 million in 2002, and
its imports were US$1.4 billion.  From 1990 to 2000 Nepal experienced an annual percentage
export growth of 15 percent, but there was a 13 percent decrease in 2002. Imports grew at an
annual percentage rate of 9 percent between 1990 and 2000 and decreased 5 percent in 2002.
The importance of membership
During the negotiations, Nepal said that notwithstanding a difficult economic and political
environment Nepal had sought to systematically reform and open its economy. The Governmenthad liberalized the economy unilate rally over the years because of the conviction that economic
reform and trade liberalization would attract inve stments, promote development and, contribute to
generate productive employment and alle viate poverty, in a general framework of
equity, participation and market-based efficiency.
 
Members of the WTO expressed the view that WTO membership would be important for Nepal’sdevelopment and integration into the world tradin g system and would also constitute a major step
forward in the WTO evolution to achieving the goal of universality and representation of the
interests of all trading nations. 
Some of the commitments
By joining the WTO, Nepal can now fully enjoy the rights that all members have under the WTOagreements, such as non-discrimination by other WTO members and the ability to use the WTO’sdispute settlement procedure.
In return for those rights, like all WTO members, Nepal has accepted some obligations under the
WTO agreements. Details of how Nepal is to appl y or phase-in these obligations are spelt out in
the membership agreement which consists of a report from the working party that negotiated the
deal, and schedules or lists of commitments on import duties for goods and market access forservice providers.
These are some highlights of the working party report, which was adopted on 15 August:
Services
As a result of the negotiation, Nepal agreed broad commitments in 11 services sectors, revealing
its clear belief in the benefits of liberalisation as an engine for future growth and prosperity.
Tariffs
Nepal accepted an average tariff binding of 42%  in agricultural products and around 24% in
industrial goods. The majority of the import items fall in the customs duty range of 10–20%. The
maximum tariff rate of 130% applied to cars and jeeps will be reduced as specified in the goods
schedule. A minimum tariff rate up to 5% applied for daily consumption items.
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LEGISLATIVE PLAN OF ACTION
Customs
Legislation on the valuation of imports for customs and taxation purposes conforming to the
requirements of the Agreement on Customs Valu ation would be enacted by 1 July 2004. Nepal
would progressively implement the Agreement on Cu stoms Valuation in accordance with the action
plan and full implementation will start from 1 January 2007.  
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
Nepal will implement fully the provisions of the Agreement on Sanitary and PhytosanitaryMeasures by 1 January 2007 following an action plan in different stages which started with the
adoption of the Food Act and the implementation of Codex Alimentarius, and will continue with theestablishment and operation of a single enquiry point.
Technical Barriers to Trade
Nepal will progressively implement the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade in accordancewith the Action Plan submitted during the negotiations and would implement fully the provisions of
the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade by 1 January 2007.
Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights
As a least-developed country, Nepal is preparing the new Industrial Property (Protection) Act,
which would incorporate all the substantive provisio ns of the TRIPS Agreement. It would cover all
categories of industrial property and would incorporate the basis for an adequate enforcement andbe promulgated no later than 1 January 2006.
For more information go to the WTO webiste:
Nepal’s accesion
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_nepal_e.htm
Nepal’s main page:
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/nepal_e.htm
END