Makhmoud Mammadguliyev, the Deputy Azerbaijan Foreign Minister, informed Trend today that the fifth stage of the negotiations on Azerbaijan joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) is expected to be held in Geneva in the first half of 2007.
According to him, the exact state of the forthcoming negotiations has not been determined yet, but they unambiguously will not be held in February. The negotiations are likely to be held in April-May, 2007. The delays are connected with additional questions put forward by WTO member-states to Azerbaijan. Work is currently carried out in this direction. It is connected with improving the answers on the questions. Then, the data of the meeting of the working groups will be fixed, said Mr. Mammadguliyev.
Up to date, Azerbaijan held 4 meetings with WTO. The first two ones were dedicated to the discussion of issues connected with foreign trade regime. During the last two ones, since 2005, the country has launched large-scale negotiations. The bilateral negotiations are held on issues on the access of goods and services to Azerbaijan market, multilateral ones вЂ" the domestic support of the agriculture and export subsidies in this field.
The task to improve the legislation, bring it in accordance with the international standards, WTO standards, as well as agreements signed within WTO faces Azerbaijan today. According to the Action Plan, changes to the legislation should be carried out within one or two years. They are mainly to be done this year. The completion of the negotiations on Azerbaijan joining WTO depends on this.