Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 15
By Ilaha Mammadli - Trend:
The World Trade Organization (WTO) working party presented Azerbaijan with questions to get prepared for the next round of talks on accession of the country into the organization, Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev, Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister, told Trend.
The US, EU, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Ecuador are the WTO members who presented their questions, the deputy foreign minister added.
The talks on Azerbaijan’s accession to the WTO will be held no earlier than the first half of 2017, Mammad-Guliyev has previously said.
He noted that the proposals are mainly related to the reduction in tariffs, liberalization in the services sector and others.
Azerbaijan started negotiations with Russia and Saudi Arabia within the WTO in summer 2016. They expressed interest in receiving the initial negotiating rights, if Azerbaijan changes tariffs on some commodity positions, in order to be the first to negotiate on this issue.
Azerbaijan has had 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.