Accession to the WTO
Reasons for acceding to the WTO
The following reasons justify WTO accession:
- To activate the process of integration into the world economic system
- To take advantage of the benefits that WTO members grant to each other
- To carry out trade operations with most countries around the world on the basis of the common rules adopted by the WTO
- To achieve the increasing of support provided by international organizations, as well as developed countries, for the implementation of economic reforms inside the country
- To attract more direct foreign investment after applying the WTO rules
- To be able to use the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism
The objectives of the Government of Azerbaijan are as follows:
- Provision of various assistance and support to developing countries (animal and plant health standards, technical standards, telecommunication)
- Setting the limit of subsidization (de minimis) in agriculture at the level of 10% determined for developing countries (5% for developed countries)
- Adoption of importance of special needs of developing countries in the process of preparation and implementation of technical regulations, standards, quality assessment procedures and sanitary-phytosanitary measures in accordance with WTO TBT and SPS agreements
- Technical support to developing countries defined in WTO SPS, TBT, TRIPS and other agreements; and etc.
Different facts, such as: the share of the non-oil sector is 37,2% of GDP, 88,9% of exports are oil and oil products, the probability of Dutch disease in national economy, occupation of 20% of territories, one out of every eight persons in the country is a refugee or forced migrant, can be used as an argument to justify the accession of Azerbaijan to the WTO as a developing country.
During the negotiations different points such as the leading role of agriculture for the economy of country, good traditions of agrarian sector, availability of favorable agroclimatic conditions for the development of this area, living more than half the population in agricultural regions, are raised in support of the country’s positions and requests. Domestic support measures in the WTO terminology mean subsidies or any other support provided by the government to agriculture and economic entities operating in this field. However, in the process of implementation of these measures it is important to take into account some limitations.
In the process of negotiations need of new created farms to adapt to market conditions, as well as importance of providing of state support to the agriculture for the promotion of domestic production should be taken into account. This is very important from the point of view of increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products and, if possible, meeting local needs through local production.