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wto approves tonga)s bid to become 150th member
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 23 - 10 - 2006


year application process, ap reported.
the acceptance by all wto members is necessary before a
new member can be admitted, and tonga made a number of
agreements with different countries on opening up its
markets.
the kingdom of tonga is pleased that its sustained
efforts and commitment to a transparent and predictable
trading environment have led to its successful membership
of the wto and, through it, to a fuller integration with
the world economy, said tonga)s trade minister feleti
-sevele.
--tonga)s membership was approved at a meeting of---- wto
ministers in hong kong. it will officially become a member
30 days after the government has ratified the terms and
notified the wto, likely in early 2006.
the small south pacific island country has a population of
about 112,000, with per capita annual income of about
us$1,600. agriculture accounts for about 23 percent of gdp
and services for 63 percent.
wto chief pascal lamy called wto)s acceptance of tonga
truly significant, making it the fourth pacific island
state to join the wto after fiji, papua new guinea and the
solomon islands.
we will continue to work together to facilitate the
effective involvement of small economies such as tonga in
the work of our organization, lamy added.
as part of its accession package, tonga has agreed to make
several commitments to liberalize its trade regime,
including lowering all import tariff lines to 15 or 20
percent within one year. the country will also have to
eliminate all industrial subsidy schemes prohibited by the
wto by the final date of its accession.
but the international aid agency oxfam, citing leaked
documents on the membership package, said tonga)s accession
terms would put a great strain on the country because they
force it to slash the tariffs it pays on its vital public
services such as health and education.
the country will also have to open many of its vital
services to foreign companies ? including education,
hospitals and telecommunication ? endangering access to
essential services for the poor, oxfam said.
this is one of the world)s smallest and most vulnerable
economies, and the extortionist demands being made on it
should have no place in a )development round,) said
oxfam)s phil bloomer.
--spa


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