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Ukraine Stopped a Step Away From WTO
The WTO negotiations of Ukraine have been endangered at the very last stage. This week, Ukraine may lodge to the WTO an official complaint against the EU. First time in the world practice, the EU demands from a country to abolish export duties even before the actual acceptance to the WTO. The incident that is likely to shelve Ukraine’s membership in that organization will probably repeat at negotiations with Russia.
Ukraine’s government will decide today on its further actions en route to the WTO. More likely than not, it will seek the WTO’s protection against new demands of the European Union.
Ukraine will address the working group for WTO joining, urging it to evaluate reasonableness of the EU requirements, said Alexander Shlapak, the first deputy chief of Ukraine’s president’s secretariat. In the working group’s report, Ukraine has no other contradictions but for the export duties’ abolishment, the official pointed out.
The EU demanded from Kiev to abolish all export duties on the eve of the working group’s final meeting dedicated to Ukraine’s acceptance to WTO. From November 30 to December 2, that group was to approve the report about Ukraine’s readiness for the WTO membership.
Should Ukraine yield to the EU demands, it would create a precedent in the world practice, as it is for the first time that Europe has conditioned the WTO membership to the obligation to abolish all export duties. Anyway, the demarche of the EU may shelve consideration of Ukraine’s application till the next sitting of the WTO General Council that is slated for early 2008.
Eager to compromise, Ukraine suggested calling off duties after creating a free trade area with the EU. “Our response is as follows: we will endure all commitments that we assumed when passing the laws for reducing export duties on four product groups – metal, leather, live cattle and sunflower seeds,” Shlapak said. “But assuming obligations of no precedent now? And another thing. Let’s solve this issue bilaterally without adding it to the working group’s report. We will undertake, after signing with the EU an agreement on free trade area, not to apply against them any export duties even if Ukraine applies them against any other states.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 10, 2007
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