| Russia may complete WTO talks in April: official |
| Date: 2011/1/20 Click: 1866 |
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The Russian government may complete World Trade Organization (WTO) accession talks in April this year, and join as early as three months later, Russia's chief WTO negotiator, Maxim Medvedkov, said here Tuesday.
Medvedkov told a press conference Russia's working group for the WTO bid would prepare all documents required after the completion of negotiations, and then submit these documents to WTO's General Council with a recommendation on the country's accession.
If it gained the General Council's green light, the documents would be handed to Russia's parliament for ratification, which could take three to five months, and later be signed by the president, he said.
"Another round of negotiations will be started in Geneva next week," Medvedkov said, adding that the main agenda of the meeting included the "accession to Russia's meat market and the subsidy on the agricultural sector."
Russia, which has been seeking WTO membership for more than 15 years, is the largest economy remaining outside the global trade watchdog.
Currently, the Russian government is still holding talks with 12 countries on the issues of meat imports. |
