Press Release: European Commission welcomes Vanuatu’s accession to the World Trade Organisation

The General Council of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has cleared the way for the WTO accession of Vanuatu, one of the 14 island states in the Pacific. The European Commission welcomes this development which will bring the number of WTO member countries up to 154.

Vanuatu's WTO accession is expected to make a positive and lasting contribution to the process of economic reform and sustainable development in the country, which ranges amongst the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) according to United Nations criteria. The EU supports the full integration of Vanuatu's economy into the multilateral trading system and welcomes that the terms of accession are fully in line with the developmental requirements of this small and vulnerable economy.