OECD launches accession talks with Israel

The OECD defines its mission as being to help make the world economy work effectively and efficiently. The organization currently has 30 members
 
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced last Monday that it had formally started talks with five prospective members to help them confront the challenges and opportunities posed by globalization. The five countries are Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia.
 
The OECD said in a statement that the so-called "road maps" setting a negotiating framework for the five countries had been approved, marking the formal launch of the negotiation progress.
 
Founded in 1961 in Paris, the OECD defines its mission as being to help make the world economy work effectively and efficiently. The organization currently has 30 members.
 
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria urged governments to work together to tackle issues like innovation, intellectual property rights, poverty, inequality, climate change and international migration. He added the OECD provides a forum for doing this.
 
Accession negotiations will take place individually between the candidate countries and the OECD committees that handle the substantive aspects of the Organisation's work. These bring together senior officials from national capitals to discuss policy in areas ranging from farming to financial affairs and from taxation to trade.
 
OECD Deputy Secretary-General Thelma Askey will visit each of the five countries over the next few weeks to set the accession talks in motion. Once OECD committees are satisfied that a candidate country fulfils their requirements for membership, a final decision on whether to issue an invitation for membership will be taken by the Organization's governing Council of ambassadors. Like all major decisions affecting the Organization, decisions on membership will have to be taken on a basis of consensus.
 
In a statement issued by Israel's finance minister, it was noted that the entry of Israel into the OECD will be a historical turning point for the Israeli economy. He added that his ministry regard the negotiation process as highly important  and would do its utmost to speed negotiations.