Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The EU and Timor-Leste have signed a deal concluding their bilateral market access negotiations on services and goods as part of Timor-Leste’s accession process to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral negotiations between Timor-Leste and the EU on the accession of the country to the WTO was signed on March 27 by Maria de Lourdes Martins de Sousa Bessa, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the UN Office and Joāo Aguiar Machado, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of the EU to the WTO.
WTO
While WTO bilateral negotiations are still ongoing with other members, such as Indonesia and the United States, the EU is a vocal supporter of Timor-Leste’s accession to the WTO, as the bloc believes it will greatly contribute to Timor-Leste’s economic reform and sustainable development.
For the EU, the WTO remains at the heart of the multilateral trading system that underpins open and fair trade.
As part of the accession process, WTO accession candidates need to sign bilateral deals with interested WTO members that include both agriculture and tariffs on non-agricultural products, and also cover several service sectors. The commitments undertaken in these bilateral deals will apply to all WTO members once the candidate’s accession is final.
Timor-Leste has reiterated its commitment to maintain momentum in the negotiations to reach the goal of WTO accession by 2023, which it considers a strategic priority.
The bilateral EU-Timor-Leste deal provides for lower tariffs for goods and for opening up services markets once Timor-Leste joins the WTO. Once agreed officially, these commitments will be embodied in the future Protocol of Accession of Timor-Leste to the WTO.
ASEAN
The EU also recently signed an agreement with the government of Timor-Leste to support the country in the WTO and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) accession negotiations.
Last November, Timor-Leste welcomed a decision by ASEAN leaders to admit the tiny country “in principle” as its 11th member, indicating that an end is in sight for its 11-year quest to join the trade bloc.
“We…agreed in principle to admit Timor Leste to be the 11th member of ASEAN,” reads the statement issued during the regional summit held in Phnom Penh, adding that the next steps would include a “roadmap for full membership” to be submitted at next year’s summit.
Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta welcomed the decision, saying that membership would open up his country to wider diplomatic relations with ASEAN’s partners, potentially meaning more foreign direct investment, as well as wider travel access for Timorese within the region.
EU trade
The EU is Timor-Leste’s sixth-biggest export partner and ninth-biggest import partner, according to the European Commission. The total value of EU goods exported to Timor-Leste in 2022 was €19.7 million, while imports from Timor-Leste amounted to €6.5 million.
Timor-Leste mainly supplies the EU market with food and live animals, whereas the main EU exports to Timor-Leste are food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment, beverages and tobacco, and chemicals and related products.
