Ethiopian Desired Accession to the WTO: The Market Access Issues

Ethiopia, after a long reluctance, has applied to become member of the WTO. The application has been welcomed by many African member states as well other pro-liberal economy institutions. In the accession application, Ethiopia has stated four objectives to be achieved. One of the main objectives is the issue of secured market access. This book tries to assess the possibilities whether Ethiopian could secure market than what it is already accessing. WTO operates on a particular set of rules that are structurally against poor countries especially the least developing ones. Because of this bias, accession to the WTO has been one of the most difficult challenge applicants have to undertake to realize membership. Further, after membership, the rules of the game are very complicated and many African states have not be successful in manipulating these rules in their favor. In this regard, the decision-making rules, the rules on dispute settlement can be the case in point. Therefore, the book contends that accession does not guarantee market access. Hence, least developed countries like Ethiopia should work on their economic capacity first. The book is important for lawyers on trade law.