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On Belarus participation in the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference

18.12.2017

On December 10-13, 2017 the delegation of the Republic of Belarus headed by Andrei Yeudachenka, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, took part as an observer country in the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina,  The delegation was comprised of the First Deputy Minister of Economy Dmitry Krutoy, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Alla Lomakina, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Permanent Mission of Belarus in Geneva, as well as the Embassy of Belarus in Argentina.

Andrey Yeudachenka made a statement at the plenary session of the Ministerial Conference with an address to the WTO members. In his statement, the head of the Belarusian delegation confirmed the desire of the Republic of Belarus to become a full-fledged member of the WTO and informed about the steps being taken by the Government of the Republic of Belarus in this regard. The role of Belarus as a member of the EAEU in liberalizing international trade by concluding preferential trade agreements with third countries was noted. Heads of a number of delegations, including Russia, Vietnam, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan in their statements supported Belarus' accession to the WTO from a high rostrum of the conference.

At the  meeting of the Belarusian delegation with the WTO Deputy Director General Alan Wolff and representatives of the WTO Secretariat  further steps  in the negotiation process on Belarus' accession to the WTO were determined and possible dates for the next round of multilateral negotiations in Geneva were discussed.

On the margins of the conference, the Belarusian delegation held a number of meetings and negotiations with WTO members, including the EU, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, China, Argentina and Ukraine.

 

On December 12, 2017, protocols on the completion of bilateral negotiations on access to the goods market with Guatemala and El Salvador were signed. Thus, the total number of signed protocols reached 16, of which 6 were signed in the current year. During the bilateral meetings with a number of other WTO members the positions on issues of the negotiation process have become closer to one another, which will allow to reach bilateral final agreements on access to the markets for goods and services in the coming months.
 
 
In the framework of coordinating the positions of the Eurasian Economic Union's member states to the WTO, a meeting  with the Russian delegation headed by Maxim Oreshkin, the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, was held.
 
On the eve of the conference, on December 9, 2017, the 6th China Roundtable on WTO accession was held, where Vladimir Serpikov, the Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs  outlined the main approaches of Belarus regarding the negotiations on WTO accession.

 

 
Members of the Belarusian delegation also took part in the business forum organized within the framework of the WTO Ministerial Conference and thematic discussions on the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade in agriculture, trade facilitation and investment promotion.
 
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