Brussels, 19/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Following the decision of the Duma (lower house) on 10 July, the Council of the Federation (upper house at the Russian parliament) ratified the protocol for Russian accession to the WTO. This was validated in December 2011 by the member states of this multilateral organisation, following 18 years of tough negotiations. Once signed and promulgated by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, the protocol for accession will enter into force 30 days later. Russia will become the 156th member of the WTO.
In order to join the WTO, Russia had to agree to a series of commitments on further opening up its trade regime and speeding up its integration into the global economy. WTO provisions will all be applied by the date of entry, with very short transition periods accorded. The final tariff ceiling for goods in Russia will be 7.8%, as opposed to a 10% average in 2011 for all its products. The average tariff ceiling for agricultural goods will be 10.8%, as opposed to the current 13.2% and for manufactured products, it will be 7.3%, as opposed to 9.5%. Russia will lower its tariffs on a wide range of products, including milk products, grains, oilseed, cars, chemical products, electrical machinery, wood and paper products and sugar. Tariffs will be bound at zero for cotton and CIT. The final bound tariff rates will be applied at the date of accession for more than a third of tariff lines, then for an additional quarter, three years later. The longest deadlines will apply to poultry (eight years) and for cars, helicopters and civilian planes (seven years). In agriculture, tariff quotas will be applied to beef, pork and poultry. (EH/transl.fl)