Events

MINSK, 12 June (BelTA) – Another round of talks over Belarus’ accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Belarusian delegation headed by Belarus’ Ambassador at Large Vladimir Serpikov comprised representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Economy Ministry, and Belarus’ Permanent Mission in Geneva. The delegation met with Chairman of the WTO Working Party on Belarus’ accession, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the WTO Kemal Madenoglu and Acting Director of the WTO Accessions Division Maika Oshikawa. They commended Belarus’ efforts towards the implementation of the decisions taken at the 8th meeting of the WTO Working Party on Belarus’ accession in Geneva in January 2017.

The sides agreed that the WTO Secretariat will circulate the first draft Working Party Report (final document) due to be reviewed at the 9th meeting of the WTO Working Party on Belarus’ accession in 2017.

The Belarusian delegation held bilateral talks over market access for goods and services with the interested WTO members. As a result of the negotiations, the sides managed to approximate the positions and create certain background to help complete the negotiations with several WTO member states in H2 2017.