Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 27 / Trend A.Akhundov /
The next meeting with the working group on Azerbaijan's joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) is scheduled for November 30, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev told Trend today.
"Previously, the WTO Secretariat has determined that date, but there will be more discussions," he said. "November 30 falls on Friday, the remaining days of the week will be devoted to bilateral negotiations, and perhaps multilateral negotiations on agriculture."
He said that the country has already submitted the answers to the questions to the WTO Secretariat.
"This is a very important point," he said. "At present, the Secretariat is preparing a new report on the basis of our answers and will submit for our consideration in two or three weeks. Other documents are also being prepared. We will submit them to WTO member-states, with whom we are negotiating, in October."
Azerbaijan held bilateral talks with the U.S., EU, Norway, Canada, Ecuador and Japan during the ninth round of multilateral talks on Azerbaijan's membership of the WTO in February 2012. In addition, bilateral talks with the U.S., China, Canada and Brazil were held in Geneva on July 24-28.
Azerbaijan is in bilateral talks with the U.S., Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, European Union, Norway, India, South Korea, Taiwan Province of China, Canada, and Switzerland.
Azerbaijan started talks in 2004.
Negotiations with Turkey, the Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan have been completed and protocols signed. The country is in the process of signing a protocol with Moldova which is still considering the document.
As part of the talks, Azerbaijan continues working on adjusting its national legislative base in accordance with the WTO requirements as well as on improving the current trade regime. About 40-50 legislative acts should meet the requirements of the organisations and 30 of these have already been unified and work in this direction continues this year.
The working group on Azerbaijan to the WTO was established on July 16, 1997.
Azerbaijan has been represented at the World Trade Organisation as an observer since 1997.