History

1 January 1990

Our government submitted its accession application to the GATT Secretariat in the name of ”the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu” according to Article 33 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

29 September 1992

At its meeting of 29 September to 1 October 1992, the GATT Council of Representatives established a Working Party to examine our application to accede to the GATT, the predecessor organization of World Trade Organization (WTO).

From 1994 to 2000

Our government held bilateral negotiations with 30 countries, and our accession Working Party held more than 200 plurilateral and multilateral meetings.

12 November 2001

At the fourth WTO Ministerial Meeting held in Doha, our accession was formally adopted and our former Economic Minister Mr. Hsin-I Lin signed the accession protocol on behalf of our government.

16 November 2001

The Legislative Yuan passed our accession protocol and related documents, and President Shui-bian Chen then completed the domestic approval procedure.

1 January 2002

The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu formally became the 144th Member of the WTO.

March 2002

Our first Permanent Representative, Ambassador Ching-chang Yen, presented his credentials to the then Director-General of the WTO Secretariat, Mr. Mike Moore. The Permanent Mission of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Mastu to the WTO was formally established in Geneva.

September 2002

The Mission moved to its current address.

May 2005

Our second Permanent Representative, Ambassador Yi-fu Lin, presented his credentials to the then Director-General of the WTO Secretariat, Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi.

Dec 2012

Our current Representative, Ambassador Shin-Yuan, presented her credentials to the Director-General of the WTO Secretariat, Mr. Pascal Lamy.