Just how representative does the coming to its fold of Comoros make the World Trade Organisation (WTO)? To answer this question, you need to know how many countries there are in the world and then perform a little arithmetic.

There are 195 countries altogether, 193 of which are member States of the United Nations, with the remaining two – the Holy See and the State of Palestine – being non-member observer States.

Thus, the WTO represents 84.62% of the world’s countries. In comparison, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) – of which Comoros Customs became a member on July 1, 1993 – represents 95.38%.

Exactly 11 374 days later, on August 21 this year, Comoros became the 165th member of the WTO, after 17 years of negotiating its accession terms, making it the tenth least-developed country to accede to the WTO. In addition to its accession, Comoros also announced its formal acceptance of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

Officially the Union of the Comoros, it is an archipelagic country comprising three islands in south-eastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, in the Indian Ocean. It is the only country in the Arab League entirely in the southern hemisphere. At 1 659 km2, it is the third-smallest African country by area. Additionally, it has a claim to 320 km2 of territorial seas.

Comoros’ accession was activated when its government handed its instrument of acceptance of the protocol of accession to the WTO director-general at a meeting of the General Council on July 22. This followed the WTO members officially approving the WTO accession of Comoros during a special ceremony at the thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on February 26.

Comoros first applied for WTO membership on February 22, 2007, and the Working Party was established in October 2007. Members of the Working Party concluded the negotiations on January 9 this year. Following approval by WTO members at the thirteenth Ministerial Conference, Comoros’ National Assembly approved the protocol of accession on June 10.

Twenty-two governments, including eight from Africa, are still negotiating their WTO accession. For the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, WTO membership became effective on August 30. Once all these countries have acceded to the WTO, it will consist of 187 countries, one more than the WCO and equivalent to 95.90% of all countries.

At the July 22 meeting, Comoros also submitted its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, bringing the total number of acceptances of the agreement to 82, or only 49.70% of all members. Adopted by consensus at the twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 12 to 17, 2022, the agreement sets new binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful subsidies, which are a critical factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks.

For the agreement to enter into force, two-thirds of WTO members must formally accept the protocol of the agreement by depositing an instrument of acceptance with the WTO.

The agreement recognises the needs of developing economies and least-developed countries. The WTO has established a fund to provide technical assistance and capacity building to help them implement the agreement.

The agreement prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, overfished stocks, and fishing on the unregulated high seas.

At the twelfth Ministerial Conference, the WTO members agreed to continue negotiations on outstanding issues and adopt additional provisions that would further strengthen the disciplines of the agreement.

Announcing Comoros’ accession, the WTO director-general said: “I am particularly proud to welcome Comoros as the newest member of the WTO. Comoros can use WTO accession as a vehicle for modernisation and economic transformation and as a complement to the country’s regional integration agenda on the African continent. Comoros’ membership will add a valuable voice to the multilateral trading system, as it has shown commitment to the values of the WTO and has clearly demonstrated a willingness to adapt to its rules and principles.”

The director-general thanked WTO members for their support throughout the accession process, and commented that “they will continue to accompany Comoros in the post- accession phase”.