Nepal on Friday became the 147th member of the World Trade Organisation with the protocol of accession coming into force.
The Fifth WTO Ministerial conference at Cancun in Mexico had approved the accession package on September 11, 2003.
The Government of Kingdom Nepal on March 24, 2004 had notified the WTO that the process of ratification and acceptance of Protocol of Accession had been completed in Parliament.
According to established practice, the entry into force of the Protocol occurred 30 days later on April 23, 2004, a WTO statetment said. Nepal had started accession negotiations in 1989.
Another 24 countries are in the process of negotiations to become members of the WTO including Algeria, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and Bhutan.
The Kingdom of Cambodia had completed negotiations in 2003 but the process of ratification in Parliament is still pending.
