MOSCOW, October 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is expected to chair a conference Tuesday where he will sum up the results of the first year of Russia’s membership of the World Trade Organization.
Other high-rank officials to attend it are First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Russian President’s aide Andrei Belousov, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, as well as ministers of finance, economic development and agriculture.
The governmental press service recalled in this connection that the Russian government had endorsed a specialized plan of action to assist the adaptation of separate branches of the industry to the WTO conditions. More specifically, the document spells out measures to be taken in the agricultural sector, the fishing industry, the industrial sector, the transport complex, as well as some pan-systemic measures.
At present, the authorities are taking steps in the field of standards, customs fees regulation, sanitary and phytosanitary protections, customs value estimates, and customs fees for imported commodities.
Along with it, the first year of WTO memberships was far from serene for Russia, as the EU said in September there was a discrepancy between Russia’s obligations to the WTO and the level of tariff protections in what concerned the utilization fee for cars.
The EU has withdrawn is claims, although President Putin signed a law in mid-October setting equality of Russian and foreign manufacturers in payment of the utilization tax.
Also, the EU and Japan have claims against Russia’s system of differentiating the fees with regard to the size of engine and age of the car.
As part of the process of adaptation of laws, the Ministry of Economic Development and the national industrial associations and amalgamation of producers are working actively to attain a lifting and/or liberalization of restrictive measures exerting impact on the access of Russian commodities and services to foreign markets.
In part, Russia is working with Brazil to attain the lifting of protectionist measures on the supplies of equipment for the oil industry. It also seeks of lifting of antidumping investigations in the EU and restrictions on passenger cars imposed by Ukraine.
Talks in other areas are also underway.