Montenegro, Russia, Samoa and Vanuatu formally joined the WTO in 2012，raising the number of members (as of end-December 2012) to 157. Two other countries-the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) and Tajikistan - completed their accession agreements during the year and joined in early 2013. This takes the WTO a step closer to its goal of universal membership. In 2012，the General Council adopted steps to ease the accession process for least-developed countries (LDCs). Measures were also taken to strengthen accession-related technical assistance for LDCs.
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