Russia may join the World Trade Organization, which it has been
striving for since 1993, the President of the European Council,
Herman Van Rompuy, said in advance of the Russian-EU summit on June
9-10, RIA Novosti reports.
The WTO is an international organization aimed at liberalizing world
trade and regulating trade-political ties between its member-states.
Over 150 states are part of the organization. Normally, negotiations
take 5-7 years to join it, Russia has been negotiating membership for
18 years.
Russian Plenipotantiary Envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov expects talks
on membership to be concluded in the near future.
Russian presidential advisor Arkady Dvorkin said that the ban on
vegetable imports from Europe to Russia will not create major
obstacles for joining the organization.
Russia banned vegetables from the EU on June 2, due to intestinal
diseases. 23 people have died. About 2,700 people in Germany were
infected.
The head of the EU office in Russia, Fernando Venezuela, said that the
Russian embargo is a violation of WTO rules. The Russian Ministry of
Economic Development said that temporary embargos are admissable when
there was a threat to human life. Russia informed that the embargo
will be lifted when the source of contamination is found and
preventative measures determined.
President Rompuy said that 25% of Europe's vegetable crops are
exported to Russia.
