Azerbaijan has received the approval of four states to hold talks in Geneva in February to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trend cites Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mamedguliyev as saying.
He clarified that approval was granted by the US, the European Union, Canada and Ecuador. Norway and Japan may join in.
The 9th round of talks was set for February 24. The 9th round was held in Geneva on October 18, 2010. Talks on trade and service were held with the US, EU, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Taiwan and other WTO members on October 19-22, 2010.
Talks with the EU, Ecuador, Switzerland, Brazil and China were held on July 25-29, 2011. Negotiations continue with 12 states.
The new round of talks will focus on the Factual Summary of Azerbaijan. Multilateral talks on agriculture were set for February 23.
Azerbaijan needs to have about 40-50 laws meet WTO standards. 30 of them have been universalized.
One of the main issues is Azerbaijan's status. Azerbaijan considers itself a developing state, reminding that it has an actively developing economy and one million refugees and forced migrants.
Azerbaijan proposed a bound tariff on agriculture be set at 14.1%, compared with 22.8% in developed states, 12.7% in developing states and 15.4% in under-developed states.
Azerbaijan has an average customs fee of 9.4%, compared with 9.6% in developed states and 17.7% in under-developed states.
Azerbaijan became an observer at the WTO in 1997, it started membership talks in 2004. It holds bilateral talks with the US, Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, European Union, Norway, India, South Korea, the Taiwan Province of China, Canada and Switzerland.
Protocols have been signed with Turkey, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Georgia. They will soon be signed with Moldova and Kyrgyzstan.
