Privilege Dilemma Puts WTO Accession On Fast Track

Gov’t intent on joining before losing LDC status

‎Ethiopia is intent on expediting its bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a bid to exploit special privileges extended only to Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Chief negotiator and Trade Minister Kassahun Gofe (PhD) says delaying the accession process to gain latecomer advantage will likely do more harm than good.

The Trade Minister highlighted the federal government’s interest in accelerating the accession process during a press brief organized in the wake of the fifth WTO working party meeting in Geneva on march 19. The meeting was called to review the Elements of the Draft Working Party Report and documents submitted by Ethiopia including the revised goods and services offer, legislative action plan, and responses to various questions received from Member States pertaining to state trading, import licensing and subsidies among other things.

In addition, Ethiopia also reported on the status of the bilateral market access negotiations which it held with eleven countries in a bid to conclude the negotiations by early March 2026.

During the brief, Kassahun stated the meeting had concluded with a detailed schedule that would enable Ethiopia to join the 166-member global organization by the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in March 2026.

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“Ethiopia’s 5th Working Party meeting ended with a significant achievement in moving forward the negotiations that have been dragging for over 23 years. The meeting further unequivocally affirmed that the economic reforms Ethiopia has been undertaking has addressed most of the questions that have so far hindered progress in the process,” according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Friday.

The next schedule will include additional working party meetings in July and towards the end of 2025, according to the chief negotiator.

‎”If we manage to complete all tasks as per the roadmap we set, WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference scheduled to be held in Cameroon by March 2026 will be the time when we announce that Ethiopia has become a member,” Kassahun told members of the media.

He revealed that the World Bank and 19 countries have officially expressed their support for Ethiopia’s accession to the WTO. In a statement delivered by 19 countries which includes the US, EU, China, India, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the UK, Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania during the opening session, Members welcomed the official resumption of the negotiations in Geneva as a testament to Ethiopia’s strong commitment to re-engage in the accession process.

Nonetheless, Kassahun said that questions surrounding Ethiopia’s eligibility to negotiate its accession under the special terms set aside for LDCs have risen.

“In some instances, countries mention China and how they have some regrets about not negotiating better deals with the country when it went through the process as an LDC. They do not take Ethiopia lightly,” said the Minister.

Still, Kassahun argued that delaying Ethiopia’s accession would be against its best interests.

“For me, as the chief negotiator and Minister, now is the time for Ethiopia. Being too late is harmful. But, we can’t count the time it has taken so far as destructive. The accession is a huge issue that needs solid groundwork and not something you go into unprepared. Moving towards delaying the process in a bid to benefit from latecomer advantage will bear repercussions across the board,” he said.

‎Kassahun indicated that negotiations are proceeding under WTO guidelines for LDCs and asserted that stretching out the accession process for future advantage will lead to a full restart.

‎”Ethiopia’s economy is doing very well and registering strong, fast-paced growth. The GDP is growing by 8.4 percent annually. If we postpone the accession by two or three years, we will be out of the LDC list. This will cause immense problems. We would be starting the negotiations from scratch. All of the offers we submitted now would have to be revised,” he said.

The Minister also stated that the LDC guidelines allow Ethiopia to negotiate tariffs based on a bound rate which would allow it to put tariffs of up to 50 percent on agricultural products and up to 35 percent on industrial goods.

“The average agricultural products tariff rate of the 11 countries that entered the WTO ahead of us stands at 22 percent. Our belief is that to negotiate more, widen the space of the playing ground and push this figure as high as we can,” said Kassahun.

He indicated that negotiators are moving cautiously in selecting the roster of non-agricultural products that will be eligible for the full 35 percent rate, weighing the need to protect the country’s nascent industries.

A committee composed of representatives from the Finance and Revenues ministries, as well as the Customs Commission, is reviewing details and conducting a product-by-products assessment on the potential impacts on the economy, according to the Minister.

Kassahun concedes that the upcoming changes to the tariff regime will have some level of impact on government revenue.

“I cannot boldly say that tariff decrements will have zero impact on government income. It will have some influence. But, it won’t rise to a level where it cripples the government,” he said.

Ethiopia has submitted a nearly 300-page working party report and provided verbal replies to 110 inquiries raised by 44 WTO member countries, according to Kassahun. Documented responses are expected by mid-May 2025.