Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr I. Khalilova / The Azerbaijani Government has plans to hold bilateral talks with the United States, Japan, and South Korea in Geneva in June within the framework of Azerbaijan's entering the World Trade Organization (WTO), the head of the talks group, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Mammadguliyev, reported on 30 May.
"The talks can be held before or after the next meeting of the working group to be held on 22 June," Mammadguliyev said.
Talks with Turkey took place in Baku in April. "A bilateral protocol is expected to be signed in the future. But the main point is that we have reached an agreement and our proposals have been accepted," he said.
In Mammadguliyev's opinion, the European Union and the United States are the main partners in the talks on joining WTO; for this reason, a lot depends on the agreement with them.
Licensing, tariff policy, customs legislation, rights to intellectual property represent grate importance for Canada and the United States. The WTO countries wish to clear up how much of the tariff policy in Azerbaijan is liberal and transparent. In compliance with the WTO's requirements, a single regime for imported and local goods and services should be introduced in Azerbaijan.
The US and EU's position is to make a joining WTO country to fully undertake liabilities on custom tariffs.
The talks with Oman, Georgia, and Moldova have already been completed. They accepted Azerbaijan's proposals and are ready to sign protocols.