Baku, Azerbaijan, June 22
By Ilaha Mammadli - Trend:
The next round of the multilateral and bilateral talks on Azerbaijan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be held in Geneva July 21-22, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev told Trend June 22.
Azerbaijani government has sent to the WTO Secretariat the responses to the questions of WTO member states, the documents worked out as part of improving the country’s legislation and the decisions adopted in the trade and economic sphere, new proposals on goods and services, added the deputy minister.
Mammad-Guliyev noted that aside from the meeting with the WTO working group, it is planned to hold multilateral talks on the sphere of agriculture.
In this regard, Azerbaijan has presented to the WTO Secretariat the changes in agricultural subsidies over the last three years, he added.
To date, Norway, Russia and Saudi Arabia have expressed intention to hold bilateral talks with Azerbaijan on this issue, but it is not ruled out that the number of such countries will increase, said the deputy minister.
The country has an observer status at the WTO since 1997. A working party on Azerbaijan was established on July 16, 1997 at the organization.
Azerbaijan began negotiations with WTO member states in 2004. Currently, the country negotiates with 19 countries.
As of today, Azerbaijan has completed the negotiations and has signed protocols with Turkey, Oman, the UAE, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. The country is at the stage of signing protocols with China and Moldova.