Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.14 / Trend, N.Ismayilova /
The Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and member countries of the Working Group on Azerbaijan set date of IX round of multilateral negotiations, Chief Negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev told Trend on Monday.
"The next round of multilateral negotiations will be held in Geneva on Dec.9. It will be attended by all member countries of the Working Group. A new consolidated report Factual Summary on Azerbaijan's proposals for member countries will be discussed," Mammadguliyev said.
Earlier, the Azerbaijani side has submitted answers to the questions of WTO member-countries to the secretariat, on which the WTO will prepare Factual Summary on Azerbaijan.
The last working group meeting was held on Oct. 18, 2010 in Geneva. Bilateral meetings on goods and services were held with the U.S., Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the Chinese Province of Taiwan and other WTO members on Oct. 19-22.
Although the country is in negotiations with 12 WTO member countries, the Azerbaijani delegation held bilateral talks with the EU, Ecuador, Switzerland, Brazil, and China in Geneva on July 25-29. The U.S. expressed a willingness to meet with Azerbaijan's negotiating group in multilateral negotiations.
The country is in the process of negotiations with the United States, Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, the European Union, Norway, India, South Korea, the Chinese Province of Taiwan, Canada and Switzerland.
Azerbaijan began negotiations in 2004.
At present, negotiations are completed and the protocols were signed with Turkey, the Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Georgia. The country is at the stage of signing the protocol with Moldova, which is still considering the document. Kyrgyzstan, however, has agreed to sign.
Additionally, Azerbaijan continues bringing the national legal framework in line with WTO requirements and aims to improve the existing trade scheme. About 40-50 legislative acts must comply with the organization's requirements, with nearly 30 documents having been unified. Work on this direction will continue into next year.
A World Trade Organization sponsored working group on Azerbaijan was established on July 16, 1997. Since 1997 Azerbaijan has been represented at the WTO as an observer.