Brussels, 03/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - At the 133 Committee of EU member state trade experts last week, the European Commission expressed scepticism about Russia's desire to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), due to an 'ambiguous' letter sent by Russia to the Commission on 25 September 2008, in which the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, said that Russia had warned its partners about its refusal to comply at a given date with all sorts of extra quotas and commitments (Ed: mainly regarding the import of foodstuffs), but its desire to join the WTO remains unchanged and the interests of national producers will be protected. Putin said that Russia's partners had to understand that this process implied concessions on either side; the process has to be honest and be based on equal rights. Putin added that WTO members have lost all interest in Russia joining the WTO because it already meets several of the conditions incumbent on a WTO member, even though Russia is not yet a member. So why should they accept us at the WTO?, asked the erstwhile Russian president. The Russian farm minister, Alexei Gordeiev, recently accused the WTO of being a hypocritical organisation that was, in some respects, damaging to the world economy, saying it was a club of advanced countries, or rather of a single country (Ed: the United States) which directs everything, based essentially on the interests of its own economy. He added that all issues are studied purely from the trade viewpoint. The vital role of sectors like farming for many countries is played down and related social aspects are not taken into account, but the most serious thing is that standards vary radically from one country another, he explained, saying that he preferred to see global farm policy become part of the agenda of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) which, he said, does not ignore humanitarian aspects, particularly the problem of famine, poverty and development aid for farming. In Geneva, the re-launch of multilateral talks on Russia's accession to the WTO have been postponed until early November 2008. The accession talks began in 1993 but have been disrupted by the Georgia-Russia conflict. Along with the multilateral negotiations in Geneva, the tying up of a bilateral agreement between Russia and the EU on access to the market, delayed by the question of Russian export duty on timber, is still a precondition for the WTO giving the go-ahead for the world's largest non-WTO economy to join the organisation. (E.H./transl.fl)