Minister Haddad heads official Delegation to Geneva for WTO Accession Talks March 2-3, 2006
The Minister of Economy and Trade Sami Haddad headed the Lebanese delegation to Geneva last Thursday and Friday, for the fourth Working Party Meeting in the process of joining the WTO. The official delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, the Lebanese Customs Administration, and the Central Bank, in addition to the WTO team at the Ministry of Economy and Trade and representatives from the private sector. Ambassador Gebran Sofan, the permanent Lebanese representative to the UN and international organizations in Geneva also participated in the event.
Ambassador Laurence Dubois-Destrizais chaired the meetings which included many representatives from the 150 WTO member countries to discuss issues related to Lebanon’s trade regime and its conformity with WTO rules and agreements.
The meetings started with welcoming speeches from member country representatives who expressed their support for the Lebanese population and their deep sorrow for the loss of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and MP Bassil Fuleihan and all the innocent victims who lost their lives. Member countries also commended Lebanon for the significant progress made despite the hard circumstances the country passed through during the last 12 months. The assembly reiterated its support for Lebanon in the process of joining the WTO and noted that Lebanon has traditionally embraced liberal economic and trade policies. In his turn, Minister Haddad expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome and support expressed during the meeting and assured the assembly that membership to the WTO is among the Government’s priorities and that work is in progress to finalize the necessary legislation needed for accession. In this regard, six draft laws that regulate trade have been prepared to bring the Lebanese foreign trade regime in conformity with the WTO agreements: namely, the Law on International Trade and licensing, the Law on Standards Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment, the Law Animal Quarantine, the Law Plant Quarantine, the law on Food Safety and the Law on Anti-dumping Countervailing and Safeguard Measures. These draft laws are currently under study in the Parliament.
At the end of the meetings, Ambassador Destrizais praised Lebanon for its serious commitment and progress in seeking WTO membership and announced that WTO member countries have approved to start work on the draft Working Party Report which will be the basic document relating to Lebanon’s accession. Nevertheless, Destrizais pressed Lebanon on the need to pass all the necessary legislation as soon as possible, and explained that any delay in this respect will negatively affect the flaw of negotiations and therefore holdup the Lebanese membership to the WTO.