WTO Accession Does Not Mean Full Opening of Russian Market to Foreign Goods - Putin
[file photo]MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) - Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not be a reason for automatic opening of the domestic market for foreign goods, and Russia will retain the possibilities for supporting domestic manufacturers, said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"During the negotiating process, all complicated and at times disputable issues were removed and resolved on a bilateral basis, including the issues related with Russia's accession to the Customs Union," Putin said at a meeting on working out Russia's position on the WTO accession.
"There were quite a few issues, "however, all of them have been settled and "relevant adjustments have been made," he said.
The final stage of agreeing upon the documents is now under way as part of the multilateral talks on the accession, and it is therefore necessary to determine the positions in areas important for the Russian economy, Putin said.
"First off, Russia's accession to the WTO does not mean an automatic full opening of our markets to foreign goods, sensitive line items will certainly be protected by higher customs tariff rates," Putin said.
Russia will operate in strict accordance with the WTO rules, he added.
"Secondly, Russia will fully retain the possibility of using all tools of supporting domestic manufacturers, meaning also special protective, anti-dumping and compensational measures widely used by the WTO countries," Putin said.
This is general practice which the WTO countries often resort to in order to protect their national markets, he said.
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