Russia to join WTO as part of Customs Union

Russia to join WTO as part of Customs Union

2010-12-08 10:38:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday announced that Russia will join the World Trade Organization (WTO) on its own but as part of a Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan.

"We will join the WTO separately, but as part of the Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Everyone should at last understand this. There can be many unions but we've got only one WTO," Medvedev said.

According to RIA Novosti, Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on economic issues with the European Union on early Tuesday. Russia is the only major economy in the world outside the WTO.

The Customs Union originated in June 2009 as the Prime Ministers of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan decided to join the WTO as a single customs territory. However, the initiative failed after the three countries had different degrees of readiness for membership.

Russia has been negotiating WTO membership for 17 years, although the average accession period is only five to seven years. Russia and the European Union had a disagreement on timber export duties which delayed the membership.

Russia’s export duties on lumber increased the cost of inputs for European manufacturers such as the Nordic timber and paper industries. Russia wanted to introduce prohibitive rates to stimulate the wood processing industry but Finland, one of the main consumers of Russian timber, strongly opposed the initiative.

However, after reaching deals with both the United States and the European Union, the negotiations for the access of Russia to the WTO's free trade market were over. EU President Herman Van Rompuy said on Tuesday that Russia should join the WTO as soon as possible.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-12-08