Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
Kazakhstan finalized the negotiations of its World Trade Organization (WTO) membership terms with WTO members at the Working Party meeting on Kazakhstan's accession on 10 June, the press-service of the organization reported.
"The draft WTO Accession Package will be submitted to members for formal approval when the meeting reconvenes on 22 June," the press-service said.
The draft Accession Package, spelling out Kazakhstan's terms of WTO membership, contains: the draft report of the Working Party outlining the country's reformed trade regime and its commitments as a WTO member; the draft Schedule of Concessions and Commitments on Goods; and the draft Schedule of Specific Commitments on Trade in Services.
The complexity and uniqueness of Kazakhstan's accession lies in the negotiations on tariff adjustment due to Kazakhstan's membership of the Eurasian Economic Union (consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia).
Tariff adjustment consisted of resolving discrepancies between bilateral market access agreements negotiated by Kazakhstan with WTO members, Russia's schedule of commitments and the common external tariff of the customs union. This had emerged as the principal hurdle in completing Kazakhstan's market access negotiations.
Edited by S.I.
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