Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 7 July, the fourth meeting of the Working Group on the Republic of Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization was held in Geneva in the form of video conference, at which the Uzbek delegation was led by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov.

The event was organized on a special online platform in a "hybrid format" in which delegations of participating states participated directly in the headquarters of the Organization in Geneva, and other participants, including experts from the capitals of various states, through video conferencing.

The Chairman of the Working Party on the Accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the WTO, Ji-a-Pek, acquainted the participants with the steps that Uzbekistan had gone through in the process of accession and preparation of the necessary documents.

During the meeting, an extended report of the Uzbek side on the state and prospects of the socio-economic development of the Republic in the context of accession to the WTO was presented. It was emphasized that the resumption of this process is indicated in the Strategy for the Further Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021 and is one of the key areas of development of the country's foreign economic activity, bearing in mind its integration into the multilateral trading system.

WTO Deputy Director General A. Wolfe noted that one of the priority areas of the Organization’s Secretariat is to assist countries in their accession process, in connection with which he welcomed the decision of Uzbekistan to resume the process of accession to the WTO and, on behalf of the Organization’s leadership, expressed readiness to provide all necessary support this initiative.

Also, statements on supporting Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO were made by representatives of several other countries, regional and thematic groups.

Within the framework of the meeting, a discussion of the expanded Memorandum on the regime of foreign trade of Uzbekistan was held, during which the measures taken by the country to ensure compliance of the regulation in the sphere of foreign trade with the norms and standards recognized by the WTO member countries were noted. A Q&A session on the sections of the Memorandum was also held.

It should be noted that in preparation for the 4th meeting of the Working Group on Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO, the Organization’s Secretariat has provided a full package of necessary documents, including answers to more than 300 questions from member countries, checklists of illustrative questions on the use of technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, according to customs assessment, a questionnaire on the import licensing procedure, information on trade aspects of intellectual property rights, as well as a Plan to bring national legislation in line with the norms of WTO agreements.

During the event, a detailed discussion was held of the documents submitted by the country, according to which the corresponding clarification was given by the Negotiating Group on the Accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the WTO.

Following the meeting, agreements were reached on conducting bilateral negotiations on ensuring access to the market of goods and services from 20 to 31 July 2020, as well as on moving to the next stage of negotiations on accession to the WTO, namely, the preparation of a factual summary, which is the basis Report of the Working Group on the accession of Uzbekistan to the Organization.

At the end of the event, the Uzbek side expressed gratitude to the participants in the meeting for their interest and support for the initiative of Uzbekistan to join the WTO and expressed hope for further constructive cooperation in this direction.