12 July 2002 00:00
ON THE RESULTS OF THE ROUND OF RUSSIAN WTO ACCESSION TALKS HELD
Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization is one of the priorities in the activity of the Government of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Kasyanov said, opening a Government meeting on July 11, which examined the results of the round of Russian WTO Accession talks held. Russia, he added, must gain advantages from accession to the WTO, since "the balance must be in favor of the advantages over the concessions and problems." Entry into such an organization as the WTO surely requires certain compromises, but "we are entering for advantages," noted the head of the Government.
The Government is considering also the discharge by Russia of its obligations under the convention on trade in rare species of wild flora and fauna. The volume of illegal trade in these species has reached 5 billion dollars, according to Interpol data. Russia is making vigorous efforts to combat this trend and, as Kasyanov stressed, "our partners are satisfied with our actions."
At its meeting the Government also will discuss the performance of obligations under international agreements on the protection of the ozone layer. As the head of the Government recalled, in 2001 Russian enterprises already ceased the production of ozone-destroying substances, and by 2006, all the storages of such substances will be eliminated.
In his opening speech Kasyanov announced also that at a meeting on July 18 the Government will sum up the results of the economic development of the country for the first half-year. Also at this meeting, it is planned to discuss the progress of the consideration in the State Duma of the Russian Federal Assembly of priority government bills.
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