Russian WTO Talks To Conclude By Year End

Russia could complete its World Trade Organization (WTO) membership negotiations by the end of the year, it has been reported.

Russian government officials have said that the country could conclude its WTO accession talks by December, ahead of a crucial general council meeting. Accession documents would be submitted to the council by the membership working group. The council would then rule on whether the bid has been successful.

Russia has been in negotiations with the WTO since 1995, and its entry is supported by powerful players such as the EU, Canada, the US, China and Japan. Russia remains the last major economy outside the organization, but, in spite of this cohort of important backers, its membership bid has come up against stiff opposition from Georgia. Considerable animosity has been fostered by Georgia's insistence upon its right to enforce duties and monitor commodity movements between Russia and the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Earlier this year, Swiss authorities acted as mediators in talks between Georgia and Russia. Nonetheless, recent reports suggest that a breakthrough remains to be found, with Georgian opposition to aspects of Russia's entry bid remaining intact.

The WTO Agreement states that decisions must be approved by a two-thirds majority of members (currently at 153), but elsewhere in the Agreement, it is stated that the Organization's practice is to arrive at decisions by consensus, and that a vote is only taken when it is impossible to reach a consensus. A 1995 Council vote decided that consensus should take precedence over vote-based decision making.

August 2, 2011

Source: Tax News