Azerbaijan enters another round on WTO accession

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan enters another round of bilateral negotiations on accession to the World Trade Organization.

The round will be held in Geneva on March 3-7, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported. A delegation headed by Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev will participate in bilateral and multilateral meetings as part of the country’s joining the WTO.

The proposals on Azerbaijani goods and services, domestic support for agriculture and trade policy of the country will be discussed during the meetings.

Azerbaijan began consultations with WTO in 2004. The working group on Azerbaijan at the WTO Secretariat was established on July 16, 1997.

Since then, Azerbaijan has been invited to attend the World Trade Organization meetings as an observer.

Currently, Azerbaijan is in the process of negotiations with the U.S., Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, European Union, Norway, India, South Korea, Taiwan Province of China, Canada, Switzerland, and Honduras to join the WTO.

Talks have been completed and related protocols have already been signed with Turkey, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan. The country is at the stage of signing the protocol with China and Moldova.

The last meeting of the working group was held in June 2014 in Geneva. However, bilateral negotiations on goods and services have been held twice this year - in February and in June. In total, the bilateral talks were held with 12 countries last summer.