The World Trade Organization body responsible for making Kazakhstan a member has been urged to speed up the accession process to ensure that it is completed by December 2013.

WTO director general Pascal Lamy told reporters on June 6, 2013 that "Kazakhstan is at an advanced stage of its accession negotiation. My guess is that this could be doable this year."

Kazakhstan applied for membership at the World Trade Organization in January 1996, and the Working Party overseeing its accession held its first meeting in February 1996. In order to become a member of the WTO Kazakhstan will have to limit its trade tariffs and submit to all the organization's trade rules.

On June 3, 2013 Kazakhstan's Prime Minister, Serik Akhmetov, met with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss expanding cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union. Barroso said that the EU and EC will continue to support Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO.

June 11, 2013

Source: Tax News