The contribution intends to assess the governance approaches adopted by the WTO in order to address and cope with the factual and legal challenges arising in connection with non-recognized states and other more peculiar territorial entities. Thereby, in order to illustrate these approaches, the present contribution will primarily focus on four aspects that seem to be among the particularly relevant and revealing regulatory issues in the present context, among them an assessment of how the issue of state succession with regard to membership in international organizations is addressed in this global trade regime. In addition, attention will be drawn to the comparatively “liberal” WTO rules as well as practice on membership and their relevance in the present context, in particular the option also granted to separate customs territories to accede to the WTO Agreement under its Article XII:1. Furthermore, attention will be drawn to the possibility for invocations under Article XIII of the WTO Agreement. Finally, the contribution also attempts to address some of the legal issues potentially arising from the not infrequently uncertain and quite strained relations between a secessionist non-recognized territorial entity and the country from which it has or tries to withdraw(n). Among them are questions of attribution to the country in question with regard to acts adopted by authorities in secessionist non-recognized territorial entities that contravene obligations under WTO law as well as related options to take recourse to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.