Following the successful ratification by thirty-five ECT Signatory states, the Trade Amendment to the Energy Charter Treaty has entered into force on 21 January 2010. This brings the Treaty's trade provisions, which were initially based on the trading regime of the GATT, into line with the rules and practices of the World Trade Organisation.

The shared principles underpinning both the Energy Charter Treaty's approach and that of the WTO are non-discrimination, transparency and a commitment to the progressive liberalisation of international trade.

The Trade Amendment also expands the Treaty's scope to cover trade in energy-related equipment, and set out a mechanism for introducing in the future a legally-binding stand-still on customs duties and charges for energy-related imports and exports.

The Treaty's amended trade regime represents an important stepping stone for those eight of its Signatory states (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kaakhstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) which have not yet acceded to the WTO. It allows them to familiarise themselves with the practices and disciplines that WTO membership entails, through application of its rules "by reference" to trade in energy materials and products and energy-related equipment.