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RESTRICTED WT/MIN(15)/SR/4 9 March RESTRICTED WT/MIN(15)/SR/4 9 March 2016 (16-1398) Page: 1/16 Ministerial Conference Tenth Session Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015 SUMMARY RECORD OF THE FOURTH MEETING HELD AT THE KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE (KICC), NAIROBI, KENYA ON WEDNESDAY, 16 DECEMBER, AT 4.30 P.M. Chairperson: Her Excellency Dr Amina Mohamed (Kenya) 1 ACTION BY MINISTERS (AGENDA ITEM 2) – ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA 1.1. The Chairperson welcomed H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia and H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya. President Kenyatta's presence attested to the importance that Kenya attached to welcoming an African country to the WTO family during the first Ministerial Conference held on African soil. The presence of the President of Liberia at the meeting was a demonstration of Liberia's commitment to its domestic reform processes and to furthering their common goals as embodied in the multilateral trading system under the WTO. She also welcomed other members of the delegation of Liberia that were present at the session, especially H.E. Mr. Axel Addy, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chief Negotiator for the Accession of Liberia. 1.2. She said that, as she had indicated during the Opening Session, the Ministerial Conference would take up the Accession of the Republic of Liberia under item 2 of the Agenda, Action by Ministers. She recalled that on 6 October 2015, the Working Party had approved, ad referendum, the accession package of the Republic of Liberia. The Report of the Working Party was then before the Ministerial Conference in documents WT/ACC/LBR/23 - WT/MIN(15)/2 and Addenda 1 and 2, for consideration and adoption. She invited the Chairperson of the Working Party of the Accession of Liberia, Ambassador Joakim Reiter (Sweden), to introduce the Report of the Working Party. 1.3. Ambassador Joakim Reiter (Sweden), Chairperson of the Working Party of the Accession of Liberia, presented the Report of the Working Party. He was honoured to do so in the presence of H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta and H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who had provided the leadership and the vision to make that accession possible. He welcomed H.E. Minister Axel Addy and the distinguished delegation of Liberia and the members of Liberia's negotiating team. 1.4. The Working Party on the accession of the Republic of Liberia had been established on 18 December 2007 to examine Liberia's request for WTO accession. In total, the accession process of Liberia had taken eight years minus two days. The Working Party had held four formal meetings including the final working party meeting held on 6 October 2015. The intensity of the accession negotiations had increased significantly in 2015. During that year until the end of the process, there had been a non-stop engagement in the Working Party requiring determination and endurance from Liberia represented by its entire negotiating team. In the end, Liberia had succeeded. On 6 October, the Working Party and all WTO Members had agreed, ad referendum, Liberia's Accession Package. 1.5. He was therefore honoured that day to introduce the Accession Package of Liberia and to report on the conclusions and recommendations of the Package. The results of the negotiations constituting the terms of accession were contained in the following documents: the Report of the Working Party circulated in WT/MIN(15)/2, the Schedule of Concessions and Commitments on WT/MIN(15)/SR/4 - 2 - Goods in WT/MIN(15)/2/Add.1 and the Schedules of Specific Commitments on Services in WT/MIN(15)/2/Add.2. By adopting on an ad referendum basis the Accession Package of Liberia, the Working Party had completed its mandate and it had forwarded a report that he presented that day to the Ministerial Conference for formal decision. The appendix to the report contained a draft Decision for the Ministerial Conference and a Draft Protocol on the Accession of the Republic of Liberia to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. The Accession Protocol incorporated by reference the specific commitments undertaken by Liberia in the Report of the Working Party. 1.6. Thanks to the important actions taken over the course of the Accession negotiations, Liberia was far advanced in the adoption of WTO-consistent national legislations. Over 110 laws and regulations had been notified to the WTO for multilateral review. The progress on the legislative front including the clear sense of ownership of the process shown by Liberia's legislature had significantly contributed to the forward momentum in their work over the past year. 1.7. As Chairperson of the Working Party, following his assessment of the accession package of Liberia with the Secretariat team, compared to 34 previous accession packages, he was in the position to report to the Ministerial Conference, that the accession package of Liberia was of high quality especially considering that Liberia was an LDC. The Package would contribute to strengthening the rules-based multilateral trading system. It also provided Liberia with a long- term agenda for sustained, legislation-based domestic reforms in a manner that genuinely promoted trade and investment for economic welfare of its people. 1.8. He paid tribute to Liberia's team of devoted and committed negotiators under the leadership of Minister Addy. The work of the entire Liberian negotiating team had been exemplary. The fact that Liberia had worked tirelessly in the midst of a horrific and devastating health crisis with global ramifications made its achievement all the more significant. He commended the Members for working hard to support Liberia and for demonstrating goodwill and pragmatism throughout the process. He appreciated the Director-General's support and paid tribute the Secretariat staff who had supported him and had assisted Liberia throughout the process, in particular the Director of the Accession Division, the Secretary and the Co-Secretary of the Working Party. They had worked consistently – providing guidance and expert support, helping them manage the ebbs and flows that every accession was naturally confronted with. 1.9. In his capacity as the Chairperson of the Working Party, he had the privilege to commend the Protocol of Accession of the Republic of Liberia for approval and to commend the draft Decision and the Report of the Working Party for adoption by the Ministerial Conference. 1.10. The Chairperson thanked Ambassador Reiter for having served as Chairperson of the Working Party for the last three years. In light of the report presented by Ambassador Reiter, she then took up the package of Liberia's accession documents one by one. In keeping with usual practice, she would begin with the draft Protocol of Accession of the Republic of Liberia as contained in the Report of the Working Party. She invited the Ministerial Conference to approve the draft Protocol of Accession of the Republic of Liberia. 1.11. She then invited the Ministerial Conference, in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the WTO Agreement agreed in November 1995 (WT/L/93), to adopt the draft Decision on the Accession of the Republic of Liberia as contained in the Report of the Working Party. 1.12. She then invited the Ministerial Conference to adopt the Report of the Working Party as a whole in documents WT/ACC/LBR/23-WT/MIN(15)/2 and the Addenda 1 and 2. 1.13. The Ministerial Conference so agreed. 1.14. The Chairperson welcomed the Decision the Ministerial Conference had taken on the Accession of the Republic of Liberia to the World Trade Organization. She congratulated H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her entire team, and the People and the Government of Liberia on the successful completion of their WTO accession process. The Decision on the Accession of Liberia was another sign of the world's confidence in the WTO and the multilateral trading system. WT/MIN(15)/SR/4 - 3 - Through its future membership in the WTO, Liberia would have a stable and predictable framework for economic engagement with other nations which would boost trade, growth and prosperity. 1.15. She informed the Ministerial Conference that the Signing Ceremony of the Accession Protocol by President Johnson Sirleaf and the Director-General would take place immediately following the session. The Government of Liberia would then submit the Protocol for ratification by its legislative assembly. In keeping with WTO provisions, Liberia would become a Member of the WTO thirty days following the deposit of the Instrument of Acceptance of the Protocol by Liberia. 1.16. The President of the Republic of Liberia, H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was certain that the deliberations of the Ministers the previous day, the first day of the Tenth Session of the Ministerial Conference, had been productive because every hour spent on the negotiations was critical to a successful outcome. 1.17. Liberia's accession to the World Trade Organization marked another turning point in its history as it embarked on a journey of economic transformation for inclusive growth. Although long and tough, the road to accession had come with milestones of economic growth with a GDP growth from 5.3% in 2005 to 8.7% in 2013. 1.18. With over ten unbroken years of peace and stability, Liberia had created the fiscal space by removing its external debt burden of $4.9 billion dollars through the HIPC process. Liberia had increased domestic revenue from $80 million to a peak of $470 million in 2014, and had mobilized substantial support to invest in trade facilitation infrastructure. 1.19.
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