AzerNews
24/03/2005 15:18
Azerbaijan seeks WTO admission
The third round of talks on Azerbaijan’s admission to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) will be held in June. The discussions may not take
place if the Azerbaijani government does not prepare the necessary
documents within two months.
Minister for Economic Development Farhad Aliyev said earlier
that Azerbaijan’s admission to the WTO is possible in mid-2006. 18
requirements, developed by a special secretariat, need to be met for
membership. A project aimed at assisting the government in Azerbaijan’s
WTO accession, is being implemented in the country with the financial
support of the US Department of Trade and Development.
Initial drafts of a part of the documents on admission have been
developed. All relevant documentation should be finalized and
forwarded to the organization over the next few weeks.
Azerbaijan applied for WTO membership in 1997. The admission may take
from 3 to 15 years. China was admitted to the WTO within 15 years,
while Kyrgyzstan – 3 years. Among CIS countries, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia,
Moldova and Armenia have become WTO members, while Russia and Ukraine
submitted final documents for approval.
Issues relating to the customs duties on imports, setting limits on
agricultural subsidies and improvement of laws will be discussed at
the mentioned meeting.