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New round of WTO accession talks launched by Azerbaijan

Politics Materials 3 March 2015 10:18 (UTC +04:00)
Another round of bilateral negotiations on Azerbaijan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be held in Geneva on March 3-7, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said March 2.
New round of WTO accession talks launched by Azerbaijan

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 3

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Another round of bilateral negotiations on Azerbaijan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be held in Geneva on March 3-7, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said March 2.

A delegation headed by Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev will leave for Geneva to participate in bilateral and multilateral meetings as part of the country's joining the WTO.

The proposals on Azerbaijani goods and services, domestic support for agriculture and trade policy of the country will be discussed during the meetings.

Azerbaijan started the negotiations in 2004.

The last meeting of the working group was held in June 2014 in Geneva. However, bilateral negotiations on goods and services have been held twice this year - in February [alongside multilateral negotiations on agriculture] and in June.

Four new countries - Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the Dominican Republic and Honduras joined the negotiating process, which took place in late June. An exchange was held among three of the countries, however, Saudi Arabia was represented in expanded format at the talks and has already started to ask specific questions.

In total, the bilateral talks were held with 12 countries last summer.

Azerbaijan has also submitted a new table with the changes in the agricultural sector of the country for the last three years (2011-2013) to the WTO Secretariat for multilateral negotiations on issues of domestic support for agriculture.

Azerbaijan has had an observer status at the WTO since 1997. A working group on Azerbaijan was established at the WTO Secretariat on July 16, 1997.

Azerbaijan started negotiations with the WTO member countries in 2004. Currently, the country is negotiating with 18 countries.

Negotiations are now completed, and the protocols signed with Turkey, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. The country is at the stage of signing the protocol with China and Moldova.

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follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli

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