November 10, 2006: Viet Nam become the WTO's 150th Member on 7 November 2006.

ACCESSIONS Viet Nam The General Council approved Viet Nam's membership on 7 November 2006. Viet Nam will become the WTO's 150th Member thirty days after domestic ratification of the accession package.

 	News  back to top 7 November 2006 — General Council approves Viet Nam’s membership Viet Nam is set to become the WTO’s 150th member following a decision by the General Council on 7 November 2006 to approve the Southeast Asian country’s membership agreement. “The remarkable efforts that Viet Nam has put into preparing for membership should be an inspiration to us all, as several members have observed,” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said. > Press Release > Welcome Address 26 October 2006 — Working party completes Viet Nam’s membership talks WTO members negotiating the terms of Viet Nam’s membership completed their task on 26 October 2006 by accepting the documents spelling out Viet Nam’s commitments and rights. The documents will now go to the full membership in the General Council, which will meet in on 7 November, to decide on accepting Viet Nam. > News item 9 October 2006 — Viet Nam’s membership deal possible by end of month, chair says WTO members negotiating Viet Nam’s membership deal began intensive consultations on 9 October 2006 aimed at putting the final touches to the package of agreements and completing the deal by the end of the month. > News item 19 July 2006 — Bilaterals done, multilateral nearly, Viet Nam’s membership now in sight The chairperson of Viet Nam’s membership negotiations aims to secure final agreement at the General Council meeting in October, he told the talks’ working party on 19 July 2006. > News item 27 March 2006 — Viet Nam’s talks now ‘well into final stages’ With Viet Nam announcing it has almost completed the two remaining bilateral deals, and following a rush of new laws and multilateral work, the membership negotiation has now pushed “well forward into its final stages”, the chair of the working party said on 27 March 2006. > News item 15 September 2005 — Working party examines first revision of Viet Nam’s membership report Viet Nam’s membership negotiations have taken a substantial step forward with the working party looking in detail on 15 September 2005 at the first revision of the document that is a core part of the deal. > News item 20 May 2005 — Chair says Viet Nam must complete bilaterals quickly to meet ambition The chairperson of the working party negotiating the country’s membership said Viet Nam and its trading partners should finish their bilateral talks in “a couple of months” if it is to join by December. He was speaking at an informal working party meeting on 20 May 2005, where Viet Nam’s vice minister and chief negotiator highlighted Hanoi’s new commitments and latest legislative programme. > News item               > Vice minister’s statement 15 December 2004 — Accession moves forward as members examine the terms Viet Nam’s membership negotiations progressed further on 15 December 2004 as the working party examined the first draft of the report it will issue at the end of the negotiation. > News item 15 June 2004 — Members praise Viet Nam’s new offers, but seek improvements and more clarification The 63 WTO members negotiating a membership package with Viet Nam praised the Southeast Asian country on 15 June 2004 for considerably improving its market access offers for goods and services, and its programme for applying WTO agreements. > News item 12 December 2003 — Viet Nam starts its ‘quantum jump’ but still some way to go Vietnam’s membership negotiations entered a new phase as its working party started work on key points of draft “elements” of a working party report on 10 December, but members warned that a lot of work still remains. > News item 12 May 2003 — ‘Quantum jump’ needed if Viet Nam is to join in two years Viet Nam reported progress, on 12 May 2003, in its membership negotiations, but several delegations said much more needs to be done, and the working group chairperson told members that “success will depend on a quantum jump” in efforts if Viet Nam is to meet its goal of joining by 2005. > News item      	Case Study: > Preparation by Viet Nam’s Banking Sector for WTO Accession
National site > Vietnam Trade Information Center  (opens new window) (This site is selected by the Vietnamese delegation)  Trade Statistics WTO Statistics Database	Status of accession working party  back to top For an explanation, see: “How to become a member of the WTO”    1. Application Received 4 January 1995 2. Working Party Established Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Eirik Glenne (Norway) 31 January 1995 3. Memorandum 24 September 1996 4. Questions and Replies 4 March 1998 12 March 1998 20 August 1998 5. Meetings of the Working Party 30-31 July 1998 3 December 1998 22-23 July 1999 30 November 2000 10 April 2002 12 May 2003 10 December 2003 15 June 2004 15 December 2004 15 September 2005 27 March 2006 19 July 2006 9 October 2006 26 October 2006 6. Other Documentation (a) Additional Questions & Replies 20 April 1999 16 July 1999 26 June 2000 6 August 2001 6 March 2003 30 October 2003 28 April 2004 13 October 2004 7 April 2005 7 April 2005 26 July 2005 2 September 2005 20 December 2005 9 June 2006 28 September 2006 3 October 2006 12 October 2006 (b) Agriculture (WT/ACC/4) 5 November 2002 28 April 2004 28 April 2004 13 October 2004 20 May 2005 2 August 2006 21 July 2005 (c) Services (WT/ACC/5) 24 August 1998 (d) SPS/TBT (WT/ACC/8) 26 June 2000 11 October 2004 31 October 2002 23 April 2004 (e) TRIPS (WT/ACC/9) 26 June 2000 5 November 2001 23 April 2004 (f) Legislative Action Plan 26 June 2000 23 April 2004 5 November 2001 23 December 2002 15 May 2003 26 June 2001 31 October 2003 5 December 2001 26 April 2004 24 October 2002 4 November 2003 4 November 2003 14 July 2006 7. Market Access Negotiations (a) Goods Offer 7 January 2002 27 April 2004 26 July 2005 (b) Draft Goods Schedule 11 August 2006 5 October 2006 (a) Services Offer 7 January 2002 27 April 2004   (b) Draft Services Schedule 10 October 2006 19 October 2006 8. Factual Summary 19 September 2001 9. Draft Working Party Report 22 November 2004 19 October 2006   Accession Package Adopted by the General Council Working Party Report Goods Schedule Services Schedule 7 November 2006 7 November 2006 7 November 2006    > All unrestricted documents on accession of Viet Nam    > help