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GENEVA - The tiny South Pacific state of Tonga will become the World Trade Organisation's 151st member on July 27, the WTO said on Wednesday.
Tonga, an archipelago between Hawaii and New Zealand, has a population of about 117,000. Its accession was cleared by the world trade body in December 2005 but needed government approval to become final.
The ratification was deposited with the Geneva-based WTO on June 27 and automatically becomes effective one month later.
Farm goods such as squash, coconuts, bananas and vanilla beans make up two-thirds of the aid-dependent Commonwealth country's exports. It imports much of its food from New Zealand.
Only a handful of the world's important economies remain outside the WTO, whose members are struggling to wrap up a pact on cutting international tariffs and subsidies. Russia and Ukraine are negotiating entry, and Iran is not a member.
- REUTERS
