Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.10 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
The Azerbaijani government expects next meeting (the 9th round of multilateral talks) with a working group of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the second half of next year, the negotiation group head, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev said today. Earlier, these talks were scheduled for December 2010.
"I think that bilateral talks with WTO member countries can be held in the first half of 2011 and in the second half of the year - the multilateral talks," Mammadguliyev said.
The last meeting (the 8th round of multilateral talks) was held on Oct.18 in Geneva, and bilateral meetings on goods and services with U.S., EU, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Taiwan Province of China and other WTO members were held on Oct.19-22,.
According to Mammadguliev, after these talks the Azerbaijani side continues to receive questions from some WTO members, to which responses will be made.
"Receiving a status of a developing country is important issue in the negotiation process when Azerbaijan's accession into the WTO, as it corresponds to reality. A number of countries agree with this, but some members are against, however, currently works are underway in this direction," Mammadguliyev said.
He also noted the importance of bringing the national legal framework in line with WTO requirements. Some 40-50 legislative acts must comply with the organization's requirements, nearly 30 documents of which have been already unified. Work in this direction will continue next year.
According to Mammadguliyev, important moment in Azerbaijan's accession into the WTO is the bilateral talks on goods and services. In particular, it concerns the protection of the country's interests in the sphere of agricultural production. "And in this regard the Azerbaijani side is trying to ensure the most favorable conditions for local producers and consumers of agricultural products," Mammadguliyev said.
Azerbaijan is currently in the process of negotiations with 12 countries, but this list can be expanded, as such a practice has been used.
"The process of accession into the WTO is long, which is confirmed in Russia's practice, which has been negotiating for 17 years. But Azerbaijan has started negotiations in 2004," Mammadguliyev said.
At present, Azerbaijan is in the process of negotiations with the United States, Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, European Union, Norway, India, South Korea, Chinese province of Taiwan within accession to the WTO. Switzerland joined this list in 2009.
At present, negotiations are under completion. The protocols were signed with Turkey, the Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, Georgia. The country is in the process of signing the protocol with Moldova. It still considers the document, while Kyrgyzstan has already agreed to sign it.
Recently, the WTO Secretariat has extended the working group on Azerbaijan by including four more countries - Ukraine, Brazil, Ecuador and Switzerland. As a result, the total number of members of the working group reached 32, including 27 EU countries.
A working group on Azerbaijan under the WTO secretariat was established on July 16, 1997. Azerbaijan has been represented at the World Trade Organization as an observer since 1997.