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WTO chief sees Russia a member by mid-2003
December 10, 2001
By Robert Evans
GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) - World Trade Organization Director-General Mike Moore, speaking on the eve of China's formal entry, said Monday he believed Russia would be able to join the body by the middle of 2003.
But he warned against trying to force the process, saying that "short cuts take longer in the long run."
"In my view, Russia will be sitting at the table as a full member by the next ministerial conference," Moore told reporters as he greeted Moscow's chief WTO negotiator, Maxim Medvedkov, in Geneva for entry talks.
Ministers from the soon-to-be 144 WTO member countries agreed in Doha, Qatar last month to a January launch of a new round of negotiations to lower barriers to global trade.
They are due to meet again in the summer or autumn of 2003, probably in Mexico.
If Russia, one of only three big trading countries still some way from getting in, is to be there as a full member, it must complete all admission formalities beforehand.
China was formally approved for entry on November 11 and immediately presented a presidential decree ratifying its membership terms. Its entry is automatic on Tuesday.
Moscow -- which once scorned the WTO's predecessor as an "instrument of imperialist exploitation" -- applied for membership in 1993, two years after the Soviet Union's collapse.
Russia's negotiations with WTO members had been making little progress, partly because Moscow objected to checking proposed domestic legislation with the trade body before putting it to parliament.
But its closer relations with the West since signing up to the U.S.-led "war on terrorism" launched after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States have created a new climate.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans and European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy have visited Moscow over the past two months to pledge full support for early Russian entry to the WTO, and Russia had an observer delegation in Doha.
President Vladimir Putin says joining the trade body is a top priority for his administration.
But diplomats say there are still major problems to be overcome, including high Russian export duties, its dual-pricing system, and how to bring the still largely state-supported farming sector into line with WTO rules.
Russian diplomats told Moore Monday that the agriculture ministry was being involved in WTO talks -- to show how serious Moscow was about pressing ahead and ensure that officials at all levels knew what membership would involve.
With China, to be followed by Taiwan on January 1, in the body, and Russia apparently on a faster track, the two other remaining large traders still outside are Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. A total of 28 countries are waiting to join.
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