Permanent Mission of Cyprus in Geneva - World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization, with 163 Member Countries, which establishes and monitors the rules of trade between nations and Customs Territories (such as the EU) with decision taken on a consensus basis.

Its core activities are:

Functioning as a global forum for Multilateral Trade Negotiations, i.e. Doha Development Round.

Resolving trade disputes between States, i.e. Dispute Settlement Body.

Setting the legal ground – rules for trade in the form of Agreements, i.e. Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Monitoring Members’ trade policy through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism.

The Republic of Cyprus is a member of the World Trade Organization since 30 July 1995. Prior to that, Cyprus was since 15 July 1963, a party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); and has been actively involved in the major trade related activities and negotiations of the international community prior and after the establishment of the WTO in 1995 with the Uruguay Round.

Cyprus, as an economy heavily dependent on the services sector, naturally attaches great importance to the ongoing negotiations regarding the outstanding two plurilateral Agreements, Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and the Environmental Goods Agreement.

The Republic of Cyprus, to a large extent through the Permanent Mission in Geneva, monitors developments in the international trade system closely and actively participates in the normative WTO Committees. Having said this, it is worth noting that, in the post-Lisbon Treaty environment, the European Commission has an enhanced role in the coordinating and implementing Trade Policy, therefore the Permanent Mission is in direct cooperation with other EU member Missions and all together with the European Union Delegation to the WTO, when handling these matters.

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