Consequences of Joining the Wto on the Agricultural Foreign Trade of the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

The given article tries to examine both positive and negative impacts of joining the WTO on the export activity of the Moldavian entrepreneurs. In particular, it was establish that since 2000, Moldova is in a stage of stabilization and the beginning of economic growth. According to the preliminary data of the Department of Statistics, the volume of foreign trade of Moldova increased significantly during the investigation period. At the same time, both overall trade balance and agricultural trade balance of the country did not suffer any significant change. Despite the fact that agricultural trade balance is strongly positive, the overall trade balance remains to be negative. The paper discusses the prospective benefits and disadvantages of WTO accession for such countries like Moldova. In particular, we investigate whether not being a WTO member has put the country at a disadvantage, compared with similar WTO members, in terms of market access for its exports of agricultural products and commodities.