WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/ACC/RUS/67 
14 October 2011 
 (11-5107) 
Working Party on the 
Accession of the Russian Federation Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
 
Chairperson's Informal Consultations 
 
16 September 2011 
 
 
The statements that follow in this compilati on were made at the Chairperson's Informal 
Consultations on the Accession of the Russian Fede ration, on 16 September 2011.  On request, these 
statements are being circulated with the consent of the Delegations of: 
 
- Argentina;  - Australia;  - Brazil (on behalf of BRICS);  - China;  
- India;  
- Japan;  - Korea;  - Norway;  - the Separate Customs Territory of Ta iwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu; and, 
- Turkey WT/ACC/RUS/67 
Page 2  
 
  Statement by China to the Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
As a co-sponsor of the Joint Statement of BRICS Countries, China would like to associate 
itself with Brazil, who just delivered this Statement on behalf of the four BRICS countries. 
 
Mr. Chairman, as you all know, China has expe rienced a similarly lengthy and painful 
accession itself, so we completely understand the fee lings of our Russian colleagues.  We are very 
pleased that the 18 years' negotiation is coming close to its end, with significant progress made this 
week under your able leadership.  It is right time for us to work together to maintain this good 
momentum and push the process to  be successfully concluded.  We encourage all Members involved 
to take all necessary steps in the near future to  allow the Working Party to fulfil its mandate. 
 China always strongly supports the efforts of our Russian colleagues and the objective set by 
you, Mr. Chairman, to complete the accession of Russian  Federation this year, at the MC8.  Russia is 
now the only large economy still outside the WTO.  Obviously, Russia's accession will be of strategic 
and systemic significance for this organization, for its Members and for Russia itself.   
 
_______________  
 
 
Statement by Korea to the Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
Thank you for organizing this informal meeting as we find it very helpful and informative.  
Certainly, we share the sense of optimism expre ssed by previous speakers before me that the 
remaining pieces of the whole puzzle w ill fall into place in due course.   
 Mr. Chair, we would like to take this opportu nity to express once again our sincere hope and 
support for the early accession of the Russian Federa tion to the WTO.  We share the view that 
Russia's early accession will be enormously helpful not only for the nation, but also this Organization. 
 
As Russian Finance Minister Kudrin made the case once again early this week, "Entry to the 
WTO itself will be a structural reform of a global nature".  As he indicated, we expect and hope that Russia's membership in this organization will enable  and encourage them to make up for delays in 
reforms in recent years.   
 
We also share the view that "the end of Russia' s 18-year-old bid to join this world trade body" 
would help send out a positive message that this Or ganization can and will do something tangible and 
meaningful.  It could be seen as "sweet rain afte r a long drought" in this Organization that can and 
should be result-oriented in order to remain re levant in the most challenging economic and trade 
environment ever witnessed by us all. 
 
Mr. Chair, we heartily welcome that the revised version of the consolidated goods schedule is 
ready and will soon be circulated.  In this regard , we do commend the Secretariat's tireless efforts to 
make this happen.  We will certainly review it a nd will continue to work closely and constructively 
with the Russian delegation as well as our colleagues from other delegations.   
 
Finally, we would like to thank you, Mr. Chair,  for your committed leadership and hard work, 
without which we could not have reached the point where we are now.    
_______________ 
  WT/ACC/RUS/67 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Statement by Australia to the Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
 
Australia noted with appreciation the Russian de legations participation at the Cairns Group 
Ministerial Meeting in Saskatoon, Canada. 
 They provided Cairns Group members with an update on the progress of their accession, 
including their domestic support issues. 
 
At the meeting Cairns Group Ministers expressed their strong support for Russia's accession 
to the WTO before the end of the year. 
 In addition, Ministers instructed Cairns Group officials to work with Russian authorities to 
resolve outstanding issues. 
 
It was with this direction in mind that Ca irns Group members have engaged constructively 
with Russia this week - particularly on the issue of domestic support. 
 We note that you Chair, have identified the outstanding issues, we too have further issues in 
the areas of market access, and others have men tioned SPS issues - which we will continue to discuss 
with Russian authorities. 
 In taking these issues forward we intend to have  the same constructive approach that we have 
demonstrated this week.  
_______________ 
 
Statement by Norway to the Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
Norway supports the early accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO.  We will 
continue to participate constructively in the ne gotiations, in order to find good solutions to the 
remaining questions. 
 
 
_______________ 
 
 
Statement by India to the Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
India has consistently held the view that ne gotiations relating to accession of new Members to 
the WTO should be based solely on trade issues and trade related concerns.  The WTO cannot be a 
forum for raising matters not related to trade, and therefore, the accession negotiations should not be 
used for raising non-trade issues. 
Having initiated its accession ne gotiations as far back as June 1993, Russia today is the only 
major economy outside the global trade grouping.  It is widely recognized that Russia's accession to the WTO will open up huge opportunities for e nhancing trade and would be good not only for 
Russia's economy but for the global economy as well specially at the current juncture.  It would also 
be an important step towards further strengtheni ng the rule-based multilateral trading system and 
making the WTO an inclusive Organization. WT/ACC/RUS/67 
Page 4  
 
  India has already signed a Protocol with the Russian Federation in February 2006 signifying 
conclusion of bilateral market access negotiations  between India and the Russian Federation.  
We understand that nearly two thirds of the Memb ers of the Working Party have already concluded 
negotiations and there is considerable progress in the negotiations with the remaining Members.   
India calls upon Members of the Working Party to provide full cooperation to enable the 
Russian Federation in concluding its accession negotiati ons this year and reiterates its full support for 
Russia's entry into the WTO. 
_______________ 
 
Statement by Turkey to the Members of th e Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
We believe that Russia's accession to the WTO can be harvested by the MC8.  In this respect, 
we fully support the roadmap you have outlined.  We have been supporting your work at the Working 
Party to conclude the accession process by the end of this year.   
 
In the last couple of days, we have observed significant progress as a result of the excellent 
work being done by Russia and constructive approa ch from the members.  The Working Party Report 
has reached a level of maturity in many areas, albeit we still have work to be done in a few areas like 
SPS.  Otherwise, the Working Party Report is almost ready with a few blank issues.  However, if we 
can manage to maintain this intensive path of work we have built up in the last few months, we 
believe that we will be successful by November.   
 
Nevertheless, to reach the finish line by the pl anned formal meeting in November, we would 
like to underline that one of the critical components is to continue matching the determined efforts by 
the Russian Federation.  This must entail the n ecessary decision-making on the part of Members in 
addition to Russia's preparedness to do so in Geneva. 
 
In this respect, we believe that it may be a good idea to consider the possibility of active 
involvement of our capital based colleagues in the next  meetings so that any remaining issue could be 
solved by the end of next month.   
_______________ 
 
Statement by Brazil on behalf of BRICS to the Members of the Working Party on the 
Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO 
 The BRICS countries – Brazil, India, China and South Africa – are fully determined to an 
early accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO.  We express our strong commitment to the objective set by the Chairman of the Working Party,  Ambassador Stefán Jóha nnesson, to complete the 
accession process this year, at the 8
th Ministerial Conference. 
 We are satisfied that the Working Party is  on the threshold of concluding its work.  
We strongly believe that the completion of th e accession procedures should be in line with the 
applicable rules of the WTO and based strictly on trade-related considerations.  The accession of 
Russia would contribute decisively to reaching an even higher degree of universality to the strong and rules-based multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO, with benefits for the whole membership.  We thus encourage all Members to ta ke all necessary steps to allow the Working Party 
to complete its proceedings and fulfill its  mandate approved by the General Council. 
 
_______________  WT/ACC/RUS/67 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Statement by Argentina to the Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
Mr. Chairman let us –once again- express our strong support to the Russian Accession to 
WTO. 
 
We will continue working closely and constr uctively with the Russian Delegation and you 
and the WP colleagues to the final conclusi on of the process by the end of this year. 
 
_______________ 
 
Statement by Japan to the Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
Japan follows the statement made by previous sp eakers.  Japan appreciates the efforts made so 
far by the Russian Federation as well as the Secret ariat, and welcomes the progress in many areas.  
In addition, Japan believes the forthcoming distribut ion of consolidated tariff schedule will be further 
progress in this process.  Japan regards that Ru ssia's accession to the WTO will have significant 
importance for strengthening the multilateral trading system under the WTO.   
 Concerning the WPR, many parts are almost completing.  Japan would like to encourage 
Russian Federation to complete and submit the re maining parts of the draft WPR as promptly as 
possible.  Japan will continue to be positively engaged in the process.   
 
_______________ 
 
Statement by the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu to the 
Members of the Working Party on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO 
 
Like previous speakers, my delegation fully recognizes the significant progress made recently 
by the Russian Federation on its WTO accession pro cess.  We have always strongly supported an 
early completion of the Russian Federation's acces sion process, because we believe that joining the 
WTO will be of great benefit not only to the Russian Federation itself, but also to the Membership as 
a whole.  As a recently-acceded Member ourselves, we have a special understanding of just how 
challenging the task must be for such a large count ry, as it needs not only to meet every one of the 
accession criteria, but to fulfil all the require ments under the WTO Agreements as well.   
 
My delegation has recently engaged in several  meetings with the Russian Federation on the 
accession issues outstanding between us, including one meeting held yesterday.  We are pleased to 
report to this Working Party that some progress h as been made on a number of the issues discussed, 
and the gap is starting to be br idged.  However, there are still some others, unfortunately, which 
remain unresolved.  We have suggested possible solu tions to help accelerate the work.  We very much 
hope that the Russian Federation will see the points we have made as constructive and that they will 
contribute to finding mutually acceptable solutions.  
 Mr. Chairman, you can be assured that my delega tion will continue to work closely with the 
Russian delegation and the Secretariat with a view  to completing our task as soon as possible in 
accordance with the Terms of Reference of the Work ing Party.  However, I must emphasize that we 
continue to hold the view that the Russian Fede ration's accession should be decided once all of the 
remaining issues, including ours, have been resolv ed, and ultimately only on the basis of agreement of 
the terms by a consensus of the whole WTO membership.   
 
__________