The chief of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, hailed on Monday the impending accession of small Pacific island state Vanuatu as a sign of confidence in the body at a time of turbulence. Lamy, who said last week that the WTO's Doha round of negotiations on a new global trade pact was on the edge of failure after 10 years, was speaking after a working group approved terms for Vanuatu to join.
"Vanuatu's accession to the WTO is a sign of confidence in the organisation and the multilateral trading system at a time of turbulence for the trading round and the WTO," Lamy told a ceremony marking the end of the entry talks. Russia and Algeria are the two main trade economies outside the WTO, although a session of Moscow's 18-year-old accession talks is due to start on May 31. When formalities including ratification of the accession terms by Vanuatu's legislature have been completed, the archipelago will become the 154th member of the WTO, which sets the rules for global trade and oversees their implementation.
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