Ministerial Conference Approves Russia’s WTO Membership

Today, on 16 December 2011, Russia cleared the final hurdle to become a WTO member. WTO Ministers adopted Russia’s WTO terms of entry at the 8th Ministerial Conference in Geneva. Russia will have to ratify the deal within the next 220 days and would become a fully-fledged WTO member 30 days after it notifies the ratification to the WTO.
News item: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news11_e/acc_rus_16dec11_e.htm
More on the Russian Federation: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_russie_e.htm

DAY 2: RUSSIA MEMBERSHIP ACCEPTED AS MINISTERS DEBATE WTO’S ROLE
On the day that Russia’s membership agreement was formally accepted, 16 December 2011, WTO ministers also informally discussed how to strengthen the multilateral trading system and how it can help development.
News item: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news11_e/mn11a_16dec11_e.htm