Finally, Russia gets green light to join WTO
11 Nov 2011
After 18 years of negotiations, the World Trade Organisation on Thursday cleared the way for Russia to join the global trade body. This follows a Swiss-brokered deal that Russia signed with Georgia, which was seen as the last obstacle to its accession.
The move would tie Russia into a global system of open markets and binding trade rules that govern 153 other member nations. It is designed to open Russian markets to foreign competitors by cutting tariffs and breaking down trade barriers.
It also boosts the power of an organisation increasingly called upon to mediate trade disputes around the world, including mounting tensions between the US and China.
The breakthrough, after three years of stalemate with Georgia, came at the last possible moment, just one day before the WTO meets to finalise overall terms for Russia's entry.
Russia will become the last member of the Group of 20 industrial and developing economies to join the WTO – and it is seen as the biggest step in world trade liberalisation since China joined a decade ago in 2001.
A WTO committee is expected to finalise and publish Russia's membership terms later this week, then hand it over to a meeting of trade ministers in December for final approval.