United States : EBRD head urges Russia to increase WTO efforts.Byline: Mamta03 Accession to the World Trade Organisation would allow Russia to trim import tariffs while remaining competitive, the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Tuesday. Thomas Mirow called on Russia, the largest country outside the WTO See World Trade Organization. , to increase efforts to join the WTO at a time when Moscow is pursuing a customs union customs union Trade agreement by which a group of countries charges a common set of tariffs to the rest of the world while allowing free trade among themselves. It is a partial form of economic integration, intermediate between free-trade zones, which allow mutual free trade with ex-Soviet neighbours Belarus and Kazakhstan as a precursor precursor /pre·cur·sor/ (pre´kur-ser) something that precedes. In biological processes, a substance from which another, usually more active or mature, substance is formed. In clinical medicine, a sign or symptom that heralds another. to accession. '(WTO membership) would help reduce the recent import tariffs across various sectors that Russia introduced in response to the financial crisis,' said Mirow, who is on a trip to Russia. 'Advancing its membership in the World Trade Organisation is an important anchor to promote the competitiveness of domestic industry and services.' Russia's 16-year trail of WTO talks has often stalled on various disputes. Accession talks resumed recently after a pause following Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's assertion in June that Russia would join only as part of the customs union -- an unprecedented move in the history of the WTO. Read All Comments That announcement 'probably did not accelerate the talks', Mirow said. Putin urged officials on Tuesday to expedite ex·pe·dite tr.v. ex·pe·dit·ed, ex·pe·dit·ing, ex·pe·dites 1. To speed up the progress of; accelerate. 2. work on launching the customs union. Addressing his government's 'border committee', he said Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus should launch a common trade mechanism and prepare a customs code between January and June 2010. 'There are many threats to the creation of such a union. But I think you all understand perfectly that, if we complete this work, it will be a real example of integration on post-Soviet space,' Putin said, without commenting on WTO accession. The customs union will come into force on Jan. 1, 2010, creating common external tariffs for the three former Soviet republics and a single market for 165 million people. TARIFFS STILL AN ISSUE Before joining the WTO -- through the customs union or on its own -- Russia must resolve several trade and tariff issues. For example, should it join the organisation, the country would have to cut the upper level of its raw sugar import tariff An import tariff or import duty is a schedule of duties imposed by a country on imported goods. It is paid at a border or port of entry to the relevant government to allow a good to pass into that government's territory. to $250 per tonne from $270. Russia has stiffened restrictions on a series of imports, including a 30 percent duty on new foreign cars, to protect domestic industries during a recession that wiped out a tenth of the country's economy in the first half of the year. Copyright : Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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