U.S. Leaders Applaud Russia’s Steps Toward WTO Accession

09 December 2011

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk says that after decades of negotiations, Russia is set for WTO accession.

President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk are applauding Russia for moving toward accession to the World Trade Organization as the group prepares to issue the country a formal invitation for membership during its annual ministerial conference later in December.

“This is, in a sense, the completion of the WTO because Russia is the only major economy, the only G20 economy, not in the WTO,” said Uri Dadush, senior associate and director of the international economics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He spoke there December 7 during a panel discussion on the agenda for the upcoming eighth annual World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Geneva.

Dadush said Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization marks the “formal end of the Cold War.”

Kirk said the move will bring Russia “into a rules-based system, increasing transparency and predictability to the benefit of all businesses in Russia and ensuring that the Russian government is held accountable to a system of international trading rules governed by the WTO.” He added in a late October statement that Russia’s accession will spur trade and support significant job growth globally as a result of lower tariffs and increased market access, and “marks a win for both the Russian people and the American people.”

Obama agreed, saying November 10 that Russia’s membership in the WTO “will generate more exports for American manufacturers and farmers, which in turn will support well-paying jobs in the United States.” A supporter of Russia’s membership in the WTO since he took office, Obama said Russia’s accession will mark an “important step forward” in U.S.-Russia relations, as it “underscores our ability to cooperate … on economic issues of mutual interest.”

The World Trade Organization will also take up the accession of Samoa and Montenegro during the December 15–17 meeting, according to its website.

Ministers from each of the 153 member nations are scheduled to adopt a series of decisions on intellectual property, electronic commerce, small economies, least-developed countries’ accession and trade policy reviews. The meeting is scheduled to include talks on the importance of the multilateral trading system and the relationship between trade and development.

They are also set to discuss the Doha Development Agenda. Launched in Qatar’s capital in 2001, the agenda was designed as a global free trade agreement to alleviate poverty and boost the international economy. The talks have been stalled since 2006, primarily because of divisions among the major trading nations, and have yet to reach a successful conclusion.