Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The next round of negotiations on Azerbaijan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be held this fall, Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev told journalists on June 14.

Azerbaijan has been represented at the WTO as an observer since 1997 and began negotiating on its accession in 2004.

The country is holding bilateral negotiations on the issue with the United States, Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, Norway, India, South Korea, Taiwan Province of China, Canada, Switzerland, Honduras and the European Union.

"The next meeting of the working group on the accession of Azerbaijan to the WTO will be held in fall, probably in late September or early October. Bilateral negotiations and a multilateral meeting on agriculture may be conducted during the meeting," Mammadguliyev said.

The last talks on the issue were held in early June in Geneva.

Azerbaijan held consultations with 12 countries in the format of bilateral meetings, including Argentina, Indonesia and other countries of the region. These are basically the countries ready to support agriculture.

In April, Azerbaijan completed the negotiations on mutual obligations with the WTO member states. According to the WTO procedures, around 13 rounds of negotiations must be held to join the organization.

The procedural rules will be discussed with WTO members within the next, 10th phase. Azerbaijan held bilateral talks with about 50 countries as part of the WTO admission process and adopted relevant documents.

Negotiations with Turkey, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan have been completed and respective protocols signed.