WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/53
10December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5210)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Statement byH.E. Mr.OlegDavydov
Deputy Prime Minister
(Speaking asanObserver)
Onbehalf oftheRussian Government letmecongratulate alltheparticipants withthefirst
Ministerial Conference oftheWorld Trade Organization. Weappreciate theopportunity toaddress
thisimportant international forum.
ThisConference isaspecial event inthehistory ofthenewOrganization. ThisMinisterial
Meeting toagreatextent willgiveasense ofdirection totheevolution ofthemultilateral trading system
uptotheendofthemillennium andintothetwenty-first century.
TheRussian Federation isdefinitely interested inthestrengthening ofthemultilateral trading
system aswemade ourchoice infavour ofafullmembership intheWTO. Such anapproach isa
logical result ofourreforms.
Theintegration ofRussia intotheworld economy isanintegral ideaofthereform process
inmycountry. Inourview, itisimpossible toachieve suchanaimwithout becoming apartofthe
global trading system. Thatiswhyweconsider ouraccession totheWTO asanimportant factor to
support ourreforms.
Theoutcome ofthePresidential Elections of1996inRussia confirms thecourse toamarket-
oriented transformation ofoureconomy. Wearesteadily moving togreater economic stability. During
1996, therateofinflation inRussia wasreduced fivetimes. Theruble, ournational currency, has
become stronger. Thevolume offoreign investment inRussia andthatofforeign exchange reserves
hasbeengrowing. Russia became aparticipant ininternational financial markets.
During ashort period oftime, Russia 'strade regime hasbeenliberalized radically. Russia
doesnotapply quantitative restrictions onimports, orother non-tariff measures inconsistent withthe
WTO rules. Ourimport customs tariff is,therefore, themajor instrument oftrade regulation. As
aresult, ourforeign tradeisverydynamic withmore thana12percentaverage annual rateofgrowth.
Astoouraccession totheWTO wewould anticipate thatthenextyearmaybeadecisive one.
Inthenearest possible future weshallbeready tostartbilateral negotiations onspecific terms ofour
accession. Wearewilling toconduct suchtalkswithallinterested parties.
MayIusethisopportunity tothank allMembers oftheWorking Party onRussia 'saccession
fortheirsupport andconstructive contribution tothisexercise.
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Ourapproach totheaccession ispragmatic. Wewould expect thatRussia 'straderegime will
improve upon accession. Equally, ourtrading partners would enjoy more stable andpredictable
conditions fortheirproducts intheRussian market.
ThisConferencewilldiscussmanycomplexissues.Labourstandards,environment,competition
policy, investment areamong them. Russia recognizes theimportance ofallthesematters. However,
inmyview, thetimeisnotyetripetoday forlinking directly allofthose problems withinternational
trade rules. Ibelieve more timeisneeded toconsider insufficient depth alltheir aspects and
implications. Iamconfident thatthisConference willapproach suchcontroversial issues, aswellas
other items under consideration, inamanner which would contribute toalargest possible extent to
global trade liberalization.
WewishtheConference allthesuccess.