The Seventh Working Party meeting on Yemen's accession to the WTO was held today at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. Yemen's delegation lead by the Minister of Trade and Industry Dr.Yaya al-Mutawakel briefed the chairman of the Working Party members of the delegation members on the measures taken by Yemen to expedite the accession process and responses to queries posed by delegate members and state of play in bilateral negotiations with interested countries. The participants discussed the Working Party Report that contains response to previously asked queries, documents regarding Yemen's commitment and work plans, legislation that are in line with the accession process ..  At the beginning of the meeting the Minister of Industry, head of Yemen's delegation affirmed Yemen's desire to finalize its accession process and fulfill accession requirement as a means to integrating into the global economy and multi-party trade regime, noting that accession to the WTO represents only the first step that merits the support and contribution of all members of the organization. Adding "we seek the understanding of our partners to Yemen's exceptional needs and conditions and hope to see the appreciation of the organization member’s positively reflected during bilateral and multi-lateral discussions during the coming months. The minister reiterated the determination of the government to finalize the accession process this year, noting that the economic, and security challenges facing Yemen and the negative impact it has taken on Yemen’s economy in hampering comprehensive development which Yemen aspires to achieve and stressing Yemen’s need to the support of the international community in facing these challenges and terrorist threats which do not only target its security, but also the security of the region and the whole world.   The Minister of Industry and Trade expressed Yemen's aspiration from the London Conference which will be held on the 27th of January in order to support Yemen's stability and support its development process, including accession to the WTO as a means to propel forward the development process, attract investment, boost trade and reduce poverty, asserting that pushing forward with accession to the World Trade Organization represents a strong message from the international community in support of Yemen strive against terrorism and a measure to avert economic difficulty and a means to integrate Yemen's economy into the global economy.   The Minister affirmed that Yemen is working towards meeting accession requirements to the WTO, whether at bilateral or multilateral levels, adding "in bilateral negotiations, we have signed agreements with Australia, China, European Union and we are close to signing an agreement with Canada", adding "We are progressing forward in constructive dialogues with the United States, Korea, Japan, Ukraine and Honduras and we hope to finalize these negotiations this summer. At the multilateral level, the Minister of Industry and Trade said that Yemen has presented a number of commitments which have been incorporated in the Working Party Report, including economic policies, enactment and amendment of legislations to comply with World Trade Organization regulations. He also reiterated Yemen's adoption of World Trade Organization's rules, especially with respect of import licensing, and rules of origin in addition to the existence of a number of draft laws currently presented to the House of Representatives that are expected to become law this year, including amendment to the Customs Law, Protection of local production against harmful Trade Practices, Promotion of Competition and prevention of Monopoly, in addition to a set of other laws that are being revised by the Ministry of Legal affairs.   The Minister highlighted Yemen's acceptance as a full member to the Gulf Standardization Organization since the beginning of January 2010, a step, he said, would facilitate the implementation of regulations related to Technical Barriers to trade and strengthen compliance with World Trade regulations. The Minister of Industry and Trade reminded participating countries in the meeting of their obligations and commitments to speed up the process and facilitate accession to the WTO by the Least Developed Countries, including Yemen, Indicating in this respect that the WTO Seventh Ministerial Council's meeting that was held recently represented a land mark in expanding accession to the WTO and facilitating accession in respect of Least Developed Countries. He called upon member of the organization to fulfill their obligations and facilitate the accession process. For his part, the chairman of the Working Party Mr. Hermit Robin called upon member countries to consider the circumstances of Yemen as a least Developed Country, urging countries conducting bilateral negations with Yemen to reach agreements as soon as possible, expressing admiration for the comprehensive address that Yemen presented on the steps that have been taken in its drive to accede to the World Trade Organization. Robin stressed that the challenges facing Yemen make its accession to the World Trade Organization more pressing in order to help it overcome its developmental and other challenges saying "Our collective interest is to finalize bilateral negations with Yemen as soon as possible and we would like to complete these negotiations before the summer break" and called for more flexibility by countries that have not completed bilateral negotiations with Yemen.  A number of interventions and words were delivered during the meeting that primarily focused on the importance of accelerating accession of Yemen to the World Trade Organization and provision of technical assistance. He also expressed appreciation for the efforts devoted by Yemen within the framework of finalizing the accession process. Interventions made by developed countries expressed their willingness to meet the obligation to hasten and facilitate the accession of Least Developed Countries, renewing Yemen's right to accede to the World Trade Organization in the light of its ability to conform its legislations and laws with accession requirements.    A number of queries were posed during the meeting to which the Yemeni delegation provided responses especially in the area of Trade Policy, Customs and Technical Barriers to Trade, Import Licensing and Standards, meteorology and Quality Control. The meeting was attended by the Yemeni Ambassador and permanent envoy to the United Nations in Geneva Dr. Ibrahim al-adoofi  The source of news is the website of trading & manufacturing administrntion - Link of News seource http://www.moit.gov.ye/moit/node/481