You're reading: Yemen on track for WTO entry after Ukraine deal

GENEVA - Yemen has resolved a months-long spat with Ukraine that had threatened to derail its bid to join the World Trade Organization, the WTO said on Thursday, July 26.

The agreement puts Yemen back on course to join the world
trade body as early as the end of 2012. That would make it the
159th member after Russia and Vanuatu, which will both become
members in August, and Laos, which is finalising entry terms.

Every new WTO member has to bring its own laws into line
with WTO standards and agree to open trade to satisfy every
existing member. That gives every member an effective veto on
new joiners.

WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said Ukraine had agreed terms
with Yemen, enabling the WTO’s working party on Yemen’s
accession to hold a final meeting in late September. The wider
WTO membership will then approve Yemen’s membership package and
send it back to Yemen for ratification.

Ukraine’s tough demands on Yemen had caused friction at the
WTO, where some diplomats saw its stance as going against the
grain of a new push to make it easier for poorer countries such
as Yemen to join.

Three senior WTO diplomats were helping to facilitate the
negotiations between Yemen and Ukraine, but Ukraine warned them
earlier this month not to interfere in its sovereign right to
negotiate with Yemen and to demand lower trade barriers.

Ukraine’s insistence on wringing concessions out of Yemen
had mystified many WTO diplomats, since it does very little
trade with the Arab country.

It had also earlier held out against Laos’ membership, but
the two sides reached a deal at the start of
June.