(zaman) - Russia and the United States have finally signed an agreement allowing Russia to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) after 12 years of negotiations, reports Trend.
The agreement was signed during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Hanoi, Vietnam, removing the biggest obstacle before Russia's WTO membership.
After signing the agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with U.S. President George Bush.
The joint document was signed after a long and challenging negotiations process, said Putin, adding that this outcome would have been impossible without good intentions. President Bush's political vision was very significant for this, he noted.
Bush said that this protocol would be beneficial for both countries as well as the international community.
In his statement, Bush expressed that he and Putin also discussed the North Korea and Iran issues.
The fact that the United States has finally given a green light to Russia's WTO membership at a time when the Republicans have lost the U.S. midterm elections seems as if Bush is trying to find the support he lost at home in the international community.
Head of the economic development industry, German Gref called signing the Russia-U.S. WTO protocol a historic step that would bring the country back to the market principles by which the world economy functions.
Russia will provide maximum protection for copyrights. The restrictions on imported meat from the United States will be lifted. U.S. companies will have the necessary facilities in order to make investments in the Russian banking system, explained Gref.
The tariffs on the export and import of vehicles will be rearranged in line with the signed protocol and international market circumstances will be valid, said Gref.
Russia has seven years after joining the WTO to lower tariffs by 3 percent on imports of industrial goods, on automobile import duties from 25 percent to 15 percent, on aircraft from 20 to 10 percent.
Russia has been working for WTO membership for 13 years. Russia must complete bilateral talks with 60 WTO members in order to obtain full membership. After the protocol signed with the United States, Russia has completed joint protocols with 58 countries.
Experts foresee that Russia will solve its problems with Moldavia and Georgia as soon as possible.
Georgia announced that it could bring the protocol issue to the agenda again if Russia removes sanctions imposed on the country.
Moldavia demands the removal of restrictions on the export of agricultural products and cheap natural gas from Russia.
Russia will be a full WTO member after eight months at the most, Gref added.