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Kazakhstan parliament ratifies agreement on joining WTO

The document, which was earlier backed by MPs of the lower house of parliament, is now to be signed by the president

© EPA/PHOTO KEYSTONE/Laurent Gillieron

ASTANA, October 1. /TASS/. Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament on Thursday ratified a protocol on the republic’s joining the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO).

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The protocol was signed by Kazakhstan and the members of the organization on July 27 in Geneva. The document, which was earlier backed by MPs of the lower house of parliament, is now to be signed by the president.

The decision on Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO will enter into force a month after the organization receives notification about the ratification. Kazakhstan will become the 162nd member state of the WTO.

The talks on Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO have lasted for 19 years.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was created in 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Currently 22 states are in negotiations or awaiting membership. There are 4 ex-Soviet states among them - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Russia joined the WTO in 2012.

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