Liberia accession

WTO accession and post-accession

Liberia accession

Other Projects

THE PROJECT

Timeline: 2012, 2015

Donor: Switzerland (SECO), SIDA

Beneficiary: Liberia

The Republic of Liberia submitted its application to accede to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 13 June 2007. The Working Party was established on 18 December 2007. The Chairperson of the Working Party is the former Swedish Ambassador to the WTO H.E. Mr Joakim Reiter, now Deputy Secretary General at UNCTAD.

On 20 April 2011, Liberia submitted its Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime. Following this submission, several WTO Members sent clarification questions on the Memorandum to the Government of Liberia. In that context, Liberia requested the assistance of IDEAS Centre to support preparatory activities of the Government for the first Working Party meeting in Geneva (July 2012). Thereafter, the Liberian Government has been supported by the Swedish Government in its accession process. IDEAS Centre was again sollicited in 2015 to support the Liberian delegation in the preparation for the second Working Party meeting.

“Liberia requested the assistance of IDEAS Centre to support preparatory activities of the Government for the first Working Party meeting in Geneva”

Objectives and activities

In the first project financed by SECO, the objectives of the short-term support provided to the Government of Liberia in the preparation of their first working party meeting were to:

  • Assist the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) in preparing all relevant documents to be submitted for the first Working Party meeting;
  • Assist the MoCI in preparing for the first Working Party meeting;
  • Provide technical assistance to the delegates of the MoCI during the first Working Party meeting in Geneva as well as take stock of the overall situation after the meeting.

In the second project financed by Sida, the support provided to the Government of Liberia aimed at assisting the Liberian delegation to prepare adequately for the second Working Party meeting and to ensure that lessons can be drawn from the meeting for all involved stakeholders. Activities consist of:

  • Preparatory work in Geneva with the delegation of Liberia to address key issues to be dealt with in the second Working Party meeting;
  • Support to the delegation during the Working Party meeting and analysis thereof;
  • Stock-taking exercise after the Working Party meeting and appraisal report.