Montenegro Joins WTO as 154th Member; Samoa to Follow on May 10
The World Trade Organization said that on April 29, 2012, it welcomed Montenegro as its 154th member, and will welcome Samoa as its 155th member on May 10, 2012.
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(The WTO said that Montenegro applied for WTO membership on December 10, 2004. On March 30, 2012, Montenegro informed the WTO it had accepted its membership package. This is the final step in the accession process. Samoa applied for WTO membership on April 15, 1998. On April 10, 2012, Samoa informed the WTO it had accepted its membership package.)
According to the WTO, the terms of membership, including the Working Party Reports for both Montenegro’s and Samoa’s Accession, the Protocols of Accession, and the Schedules of commitments on Market Access for Goods and Services, were adopted by the WTO at the eighth Ministerial Conference on December 15-17, 2011.
Under WTO rules, a country becomes a member 30 days after national ratification.