Russian negotiator admits consultations on WTO accession not going well
Interfax
Moscow, 17 June: Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan held consultations in Geneva on Wednesday (17 June) with member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the possible format of the negotiating process for the accession of the Customs Union (incorporating the three countries) to the WTO, head of the Russian delegation at the WTO accession talks Maksim Medvedkov has told Interfax.
"An informal meeting has taken place between the Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh delegations and representatives of about 60-70 WTO member states," he said. He said information about the Customs Union itself and its intention to join the WTO was presented at the meeting.
"The discussion was quite tough," the Russian negotiator said.
According to Medvedkov, a number of counties expressed the opinion that that new form of accession may "slow down the process of accession significantly, since there has been no precedent of customs unions' joining the WTO".
Furthermore, a number of countries pointed out that, in accordance with WTO standards, negotiations on accession to the organization can be conducted by customs unions which have the powers to regulate all trading activities covered by WTO rules, i.e. both goods and services.
The Customs Union which is being formed by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan only regulates relations in goods trade.
"It was suggested that a working group should be set up to examine to what extent the emerging Customs Union meets WTO requirements," Medvedkov said.
He said several countries expressed the view that negotiations should only start after the Customs Union is fully formed, i.e. after 1 July 2011.
Medvedkov said consultations were also held with the WTO secretariat, but no decisions were taken there. The secretariat's position, he said, is that the talks on the format of negotiations should be conducted with all the interested members of the WTO.
Medvedkov said that the consultation in Geneva would continue, and possible options for the negotiating process would be discussed. "After that, we'll have to suggest the options for continuing negotiations to the governments of the three countries," he said.
Medvedkov said that the countries of the Customs Union have not yet legally pulled out of the individual negotiating process but announced its suspension. "It is clear that future negotiations will be conducted by the three countries jointly," the head of the Russian delegation said.
He said it is hard to say as yet which option for the format of subsequent negotiations will be chosen. Several options are possible; for example, the Customs Union commission may conduct negotiations on goods, and the national governments, on services, etc. (Passage omitted).