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Accession to The World Trade Organization: Challenges for post-conflict nations illustrated by the case of Iraq

Policy Brief No. 72

There are various motivations for a country to apply for membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The most common is to benefit from its integration into the global trading system, and WTO membership is considered the entry point for such integration.

Once it has acceded to the Organization, the country can participate, on an equal footing with other members, in negotiations on future trade rules in WTO. Yet, the negotiation process will bring major challenges, especially for a post-conflict country such as Iraq.

Key points:

  • Accession to the World Trade Organization should allow a post-conflict country, such as Iraq, to enjoy non-discriminatory treatment and market-access opportunities under the multilateral trade rules.

  • Accession negotiations pose major challenges for Iraq and other post-conflict countries.

  • The international community should scale up its support to post-conflict countries to facilitate their beneficial (re)integration into the multilateral trading system and the global economy.