TAIPEI, Sept 27 (AFP) -- Taiwan is expected to officially become a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March 2002, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen said Thursday. "March appears to be a more reasonable estimate while earlier admission cannot be entirely ruled out," according to Chen, also Taiwan's chief WTO negotiator. After having secured the approval of a working panel in Geneva, Taiwan's entry has yet to be ratified at the WTO's ministerial meeting set for Qatar in November and then undergo parliamentary deliberation at home, he said. Chen said Taiwan is set to reduce the average tariff rate on 1,021 farm products to 12.9 percent after its WTO accession from 20.0 percent currently. "We will also phase out internal protection of such products and remove export subsidies." At the same time, the average tariff rate on 3,470 industrial items would be slashed to 4.2 percent eventually from the current 6.0 percent, he added. Under a quota system, the tariffs on imported cars would be reduced from 30.0 percent in the first year after Taiwan's WTO entry to 17.5 percent in 10 years, he said. Chen said Taiwan's external trade has less of a need to readjust itself in the post-WTO era as it has long functioned under a market-oriented economy and already largely conforms to international conventions. Taiwan-made products stood a good chance of becoming even more competitive thanks to wider access to overseas markets and lower costs for material imports, he said. However an expected increase in farm imports would certainly have an impact on the domestic agricultural sector, he said. The vice minister said Taiwan's service industry was unlikely to sustain an excessive impact as it has been largely opened to private and foreign participation. Instead, service ventures in the financial, transport and telecom sectors should benefit from the introduction of advanced skills and expertise from abroad, he added.