Vol. 503 No. 3
113 Mr. Dukes asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the support, if any, she has given to the application by Taiwan to join the World Trade Organisation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9687/99]
Following Taiwan's application to accede to the World Trade Organisation in 1990, a WTO working group was established and has met regularly since. Negotiations with Taiwan have covered a wide range of trade issues including industrial tariffs and quotas, subsidies, services, and environmental issues.
As part of the process of accession, the European Union entered into bilateral market access negotiations with Taiwan in 1996. These concluded in July 1998 with the signing of a bilateral trade agreement under which Taiwan agreed to cut tariffs on a significant range of imports.
Ireland along with its EU partners, has, during the negotiations on entry conditions, supported the accession of Taiwan to the WTO. We hope that these negotiations can be successfully concluded during the course of this year and before the next WTO ministerial meeting, scheduled to take place at the end of November in Seattle.
