GEORGIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA TO JOIN WTO SOON

 

The Republic of Georgia will soon be a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). At the regular WTO session in Geneva on October 6, the General Council approved the accession package for Georgia. To officially become a WTO member, the Georgian Parliament must ratify the accession agreement. Georgia will become a member 30 days after ratification. It is unlikely that Georgia will be a member state in time to join the WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle, November 30 to December 3.

 

Inclusion in the WTO will mean that Georgia will be bound by international rules governing trade between nations. It will have to lower import tariffs and reduce barriers to free trade. However, Georgia will join as a transition economy, giving it certain concessions in the first years of membership. According to State Department spokesman James Rubin, joining “will be an important milestone in Georgia’s integration into the global economic community and is a sign of its leadership on market reform.”

 

Georgia is the second NIS country to complete accession negotiations. Kyrgyzstan became a member of the WTO in October 1998. In addition, Moldova and Armenia have nearly completed negotiations. Approval of their accession remains a possibility by the Seattle Ministerial. Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine are currently engaged in accession negotiations. The United States is fully engaged in negotiations with Russia, but much work remains to be done before its WTO accession is completed.