Within ITC’s exclusive mandate to foster the private sectors’ participation, in particular SMEs, for trade-led economic growth, ITC aims at supporting developing countries’ private sector participation in the WTO accession process. The assistance provided is customized according to each country’s stage of accession and specific economic situation as well as development strategies.
Build a national consensus and international momentum around their accession process
Accede to the WTO with balanced accession strategies and accompanying policy and regulatory reforms that are paramount to enhance the business integration into the global economy.
With this objective as its backdrop, ITC has been successfully assisting least developed and developing countries in their WTO accession process since 2009 by providing them with a wide range of technical assistance services and capacity building activities. These include supporting the drafting of their WTO accession documents (Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime and Legal Action Plan), achieving balanced accession strategies (drafting of the goods and services initial offers, supporting the conclusion of national trade policy strategies), and implementing a nation-wide public-private dialogue methodology to build consensus around the accession and negotiations positions. Samoa, Yemen, Lao PDR, Comoros, Liberia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Ethiopia are all among the beneficiaries of ITC’s assistance on the path to their WTO membership.
The process of Uzbekistan’s WTO accession was initiated in 1994, but was frozen in 2005, due to the self-sufficiency policy that was instituted during this time.
Fast forward to 2016, where shortly after his election, President Mirziyoyev initiated a broad package of socio-economic reforms and transformation aimed at trade liberalization and modernization of domestic trade regime. Following these reforms, the process of accession to the WTO was renewed through a formal application to the WTO Secretariat signed by the Minister of Foreign Trade in March 2018. In July 2019, Uzbekistan circulated its updated Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR) to the WTO members, as well as later on a number of other required WTO accession documents, including initial market access offers on goods and services. The progress made by Uzbekistan resulted in the support by WTO members in carrying out the 4th Working Party on the accession of Uzbekistan to the WTO, which took place on July 7th, 2020 after almost fifteen years of standstill in the negotiations. This milestone event has marked Uzbekistan’s return to the negotiating table and its government’s dedication and efforts made towards joining the WTO membership. Next developments in the accession process will depend on the progress achieved in upcoming bilateral and multilateral negotiations as well as the alignment Uzbekistan’s trade regulatory regime with the WTO rules and regulations.
The blue highlights are the phases that have been completed already
While the grey highlights indicate the phases that still need to be completed
The project ‘Facilitating the process of Uzbekistan’s Accession to the WTO’ is a five-year initiative funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC). The project, which started in February 2020, aims to support Uzbekistan's development plans to modernize its economy by leveraging its WTO accession process.
Contribute to the economic development of Uzbekistan by assisting the country to create a trade environment that is in conformity with international standards, including predictable and enforceable laws and regulations.
Contribute to Uzbekistan's economic development through the creation of a trade environment that is in conformity with the WTO rules.
If the Uzbekistan’s WTO accession process concludes within the implementation phase of the project, the focus of ITC’s assistance will shift to support Uzbekistan’s compliance with WTO requirements and implementation of the commitments made during the accession process.
Funded by
the European
Union
More information on EU’s work in Uzbekistan can be found here
The Uzbek government will be better equipped to draft the documents and develop its negotiating positions as required by the WTO accession process
The executive and legislative branches will be better informed to develop specific sectoral laws and regulations as needed to comply with Uzbekistan’s new international commitments
The policymakers' understanding of the WTO accession process and its legal framework will be reinforced
Uzbekistan will have an increased capacity to comply with WTO Rules, in particular with regards to the SPS/TBT & Trade Facilitation Agreements of the WTO
ITC’s work will increase the business sector’s - including women's associations- awareness of the WTO accession process and benefits