WTO expecting Vietnam’s complete proposal

Rufus Yerxa, Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said, this morning, that this body may schedule a meeting in April or May to discuss Vietnam’s WTO accession. The meeting will be scheduled right after Vietnam sends its complete proposal to Geneva.

Arriving in Hanoi at the beginning of the week to assist Vietnam to accelerate its negotiation to join the WTO, Mr. Yerxa is optimistic after working with high-ranking government officials.

“Political willingness, the most difficult hurdle on WTO accession, has been demonstrated. Government officials shared the same view of speeding up the negotiation. What Vietnamese negotiators need to do right now is to complete the application package as well as to prove that they are able to fully implement the commitments to 147 WTO member countries," Mr. Yerxa said.

Vietnam is among 25 countries negotiating for WTO membership. Talking with VnExpress on Vietnam’s progress in relation to these countries, Mr. Yerxa said, though Vietnam made relatively slow progress in the first few years (from 1994) it has been accelerating dramatically recently.

“I am certain that all key WTO members have agreed in principle on Vietnam’s accession. This is a great advantage”.

However, Mr. Yerxa declined to detail the specific timing for accession. “It depends on the efforts of the Government of Vietnam and the view of 147 WTO members," he said.

At the WTO Headquarters in Geneva, Mr. Yerxa supervises a group of 7 professionals working on accessions of all 25 countries. Mr. Yerxa alerts that: “Negotiations should focus more on the quality rather than the numbers. There is no need for a bunch of meetings.  A meeting is needed only when specific decisions are necessary to be made”.

The WTO's history (from 1995, and its predecessor GATT) shows that the accession negotiation of each country is unique.  China conducted the negotiation in almost 15 years while Cambodia did only in less than 10 years. According to the WTO Deputy Director General, the important issue is not sooner or later but the long term economic benefit the WTO membership would bring to, i.e. free trade, reduced protection, dispute settlement, antidumping, etc.

Vietnam has conducted 7 multilateral negotiation rounds and bilateral talks with about 20 countries and territories on WTO accession.

Kim Minh