A World Trade Organization Working Party has approved Montenegro's accession package to allow the nation to join the global trade club, subject to the approval of ministers at the WTO Ministerial Conference on December 15-17, 2011.
As part of its accession commitments, Montenegro's authorities have agreed to further liberalize the nation's trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world economy. The country has also pledged to provide a transparent and predictable environment for trade and foreign investment.
“This is the fourth WTO accession this year. This is an important step in making the WTO a more global organization and shows that the WTO and multilateralism remain a priority for trade policy. WTO membership will enhance Montenegro’s capacity to be more competitive in trade through policy and legislative reforms. It will also provide Montenegro with the ’WTO label’, which is so important to attract investors,” said WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.
Welcoming the announcement from the WTO Working Party, Montenegro's Minister of the Economy, Dr Vladimir Kavaric, said: “This is a big step forward in integrating the multilateral trading system. WTO membership is one of the main priorities of the government. This accession also shows Montenegro’s ability to integrate into the international community.”
Under the terms of the package, all Montenegro's tariffs are to be bound. Montenegro will apply an average final bound rate of 5.1% (10.8% for agricultural products and 4.3% for industrial products). Tariff reductions will be phased out during a period up to 2022 for some products.
Montenegro would bind other duties and charges at zero, from the date of accession.