|
|
|
|
|
|
| KAZAKHSTAN TO COMPLETE TALKS ON WTO ACCENSION |
Kazakhstan plans to complete bilateral talks on accession into the World Trade Organization by the end of this year, said Zhanar Aitzhanova, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Economic Development & Trade, yesterday (July 20th).
Kazakhstan is currently holding bilateral talks with the USA and Saudi Arabia, said Minister Aitzhanova. The latter talks are entering “the final stage... As for the USA, there is a short list of unresolved issues to solve; they are related to agriculture - namely setting tariff quotas on meat” said the Minister, who also promised that Kazakhstan would resolve all issues by the autumn.
On July 14th in Brussels, the Minister of Economic Development & Trade met EU Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht, to discuss Kazakhstan’s export duties on commodities and access to the financial services market. This was the final stage of five-year’s bilateral talks on access to markets as part of Kazakhstan’s campaign to access the WTO.
“Entering into the WTO is a top priority for the Republic of Kazakhstan and for our partners on the Customs Union” said Minister Aitzhanova earlier this year.
In June 2009, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus notified the WTO of their intention to join the WTO together. Four months later, the three former Soviet republics announced they would resume talks on WTO accession separately, but from synchronized positions.
The Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus became a reality on July 1st and the three countries are now working towards making a market zone by 2011 and implementing the ‘EU-like’ model by 2012. Restrictions of trading between the three countries will be lowered which will be significantly advantageous for all three economies. Negotiations for WTO entry of the Customs Union states resumed only recently to provide entry into the Organization within the earliest possible time frame.
The World Trade Organization is an organization that supervises and liberalizes international trade. The organization officially commenced in January 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948. The WTO deals with regulation of trade between member countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. The WTO has 153 members, representing more than 97% of total world trade and 30 observers - most seeking membership. The Organization is governed by a ministerial conference, meeting every two years; a general council, which implements the conference's policy decisions. The WTO's HQ is in Geneva, Switzerland.
|
|
| Author(s) : |
|
| Date : |
21/07/2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | |