Liberia Concludes Second Working Party Meeting on a Positive Note with Members Expressing Support for Liberia Ambitious Target of Acceding to the WTO in December in Nairobi at the Ministerial Conference (MC10) which will Mark the First time a Ministerial Conference is Held in Africa.

The Liberia delegation led by Chief Negotiator, Hon. Axel M. Addy, Minister of Commerce and Industry,  was comprised of Hon. Dr. Florence Chenoweth, Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Augustine Jarrett, Economic Advisor, Office of President, Hon. Angelique Weeks, Chair, Liberia Telecommunication Authority, Hon. Decontee King-Sackee, Deputy Commissioner, Liberia Revenue Authority, Hon. Seklau Wiles, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Roosevelt Gould, Chief Legal Counsel, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Roland Morris, IP Advisor, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Hon. Paul Tate, Charge d'Affairs, Mission of Liberia to UN Agencies, Hon. Stephen Marvie, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Commerce, Hon. William Buku, Assistant
Commissioner, Liberia Revenue Authority, Hon. Alexander Nuetah, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and a host of administrative officers and interns.

The delegation conducted several meetings at the bilateral level with several members of the WTO and other partners including the ITC and UNCTAD. They also participated in a media event with the international press.

Liberia since 2007 has embarked on a journey to join the multilateral trading system. With support from the US, EU, and several development partners including UNCTAD, ITC, the World Bank and the Enhance Integrated Framework, a cross section of government ministries and agencies have been working on the accession process to achieve this important milestone of the
second working party meeting, bringing Liberia closer to its goal of joining by December in Nairobi at MC10. However much work is ahead and the technical teams are working on meeting the key deliverables to stay on target.

The next goal is to have a third working party meeting where outstanding issues are address and concluded in order to consolidate the accession package for presentation to members.The target is to achieve this goal by July of 2015.