RUSSIA, US SIGN BILATERAL WTO ACCESSION AGREEMENT

Russia and the US have formally signed a bilateral deal on the former's accession to the WTO, after more than 12 years of negotiations. US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin inked the 800-page pact on 19 November during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Hanoi.

The two sides had finalised the terms of the agreement earlier this month, after ironing out differences on US meat exports, financial services liberalisation, and intellectual property rights (see BRIDGES Weekly, 15 November 2006).

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab welcomed the agreement, saying, "the full integration of Russia into the global economy is in the interests of Russia and is also in the interests of the United States."

The US had been the last major economy with which Russia needed to conclude a bilateral entry agreement. Moscow also signed a bilateral deal with Sri Lanka on 17 November.

The most significant obstacle to Russia's WTO accession is now its troubled relationship with Georgia. The former Soviet republic has threatened to withhold consent from Russia's accession (see BRIDGES Weekly, 25 October, 2006). Although it had already completed a bilateral accession deal with Moscow two years ago, Georgia withdrew its signature from Russia's WTO bid in July of this year, citing various new restrictions on its exports. Tbilisi also wants Moscow to stop using customs checkpoints in Georgia's Russian-backed breakaway border regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which are not under the control of Georgian state forces. Georgia's Foreign and Economic Development Ministries states that its "main demand in Russia's WTO bid is that it use legal customs checkpoints."

Russia also needs to sign accession deals with Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Moldova, reports state news agency RIA Novosti. It has completed negotiations with Costa Rica, though the agreement remains to be signed. Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev says that his government's position on Russia's WTO accession depends heavily on the results of the Moldovan-Russian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, which is set to meet on 27 November.

"No WTO deal until Russia uses legal customs checkpoints -- Georgia," RIA NOVOSTI, 21 November 2006; "US to back Russia's WTO entry bid," BBC NEWS, 15 November; "US, Russia Sign Key Trade Deal," WALL STREET JOURNAL, 20 November 2006; "Russia signs agreement on WTO accession with Sri Lanka," PRIME-TASS, 17 November 2006; "Chisinau compiles a list of conditions for Russia to join the WTO," REGNUM, 21 November 2006; "US paves way for Russia WTO entry," BBC NEWS, 19 November 2006.