Why isn’t San Marino in the WTO?

https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/cbt_course_e/c1s1p1_e.htm

Alfonso Llanes, Master Degree in International Development

Answered just now

The World Trade Organization (WTO is by definition the arm of a global international organization that deals with the rules of trade between nations. At its center are the WTO agreements, negotiated by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their corresponding legislative bodies.

San Marino is listed as a member of the Eurozone:

Agreement name:

EU - San Marino

Coverage:

Goods

Type:

Customs Union

Status:

In Force

Notification under:

GATT Art. XXIV

Date of signature:

16-Dec-1991

Date of notification:

24-Feb-2010

Date of entry into force:

01-Apr-2002

End of implementation period:

2002

Remarks:

Official Journal of the European Union, L 084, 28 March 2002.

Current signatories:

Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; United Kingdom; San Marino

Original signatories:

Austria; Belgium; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Ireland; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Portugal; Spain; Sweden; United Kingdom; San Marino

RTA Composition:

Bilateral; One Party is an RTA

Region:

Europe

As San Marino moves to perfect and consolidate its trade relationship with the European Union, the country should complement that process by joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). Especially now that nearly every country in the world has either joined the WTO or is actively seeking to join. Sa Marino has much to gain by joining if one considers the US tariffs from San Marino imports has an average of 6.3% which is far in excess of the averages imposed on imports from the European Union.

Micro-states: a Definition

Several micro-states such as Luxembourg, Monaco, Liberia, Bahrain has successfully carved out niches for themselves despite the capacity constraints to remedy the issues for joining WTO.

• Limited ability to participate effectively in WTO, and in dispute settlement proceedings hamper implementation of their obligations under WTO agreements
• Severe limitations of human and financial resources
• Small administrations and lack of experience and training in handling trade issues
• Constraints on account of tariff reduction and resultant difficulties with macroeconomic management
• Remoteness makes it costly to send staff to Geneva or other centers.
• Severe capacity constraints in capitals with regard to formulating and administering trade policy.
• Difficulties in WTO accession negotiations - both in terms of financial costs and liberalization commitments. Further, heavy dependence on trade taxes and on trade preferences adds to the difficulty
• The costs of adopting the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) standards under TRIPS in terms of financial transfers to developed countries through royalties and license fees are high; and advantages from IPRs is severely limited due to lack of resources and the critical mass.

To date, only 13 member States of the United Nations have not applied to accede to the WTO. They are, in alphabetical order:

1. Eritrea (LDC) 8. Palau

2. Kiribati (LDC) 9. San Marino

3. North Korea (LDC) 10. Somalia (LDC)

4. Marshall Islands 11. Timor-Leste (LDC)

5. Micronesia 12. Turkmenistán

6. Mónaco 13. Tuvalu (LDC

7. Nauru