On July 7 this year, Geneva hosted the 4th 4th meeting of the Working Group on the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the WTO via video-conferencing. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. Umurzakov headed the Uzbek Delegation.

The event was organized as a special online-platform in a hybrid format, where the delegations of involved countries presented directly in the headquarters of the Organization in Geneva, and other participants, including experts from the capitals of various states - via video conferencing.

Chairman of the Working Group on the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the WTO, Ji-ah Paik, acquainted the participants with Uzbekistan's progress in the process of accession and the preparation of documents required.

The meeting disclosed an extended report of the Uzbek side on the status and prospects of social and economic development of the Republic for accessing to the WTO. It was emphasized that the resumption of this process is provided by the Strategy for the Further Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021 and is one of the main areas for the development of the country's foreign economic activity with a view to its integration into the multilateral commercial system.

The WTO Deputy Director General Alan Wolff noted that one of the priorities of the Organization’s Secretariat is to assist countries in their accession and welcomed the decision of Uzbekistan to resume the accession to the WTO, as well as expressed willingness to provide all necessary support under this initiative.

Representatives of several other countries, regional and thematic groups also addressed for the support of Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO.

The meeting included the discussion of the expanded Memorandum on the foreign trade of Uzbekistan. It noted the measures taken by the country to ensure compliance of the foreign trade with the regulations and standards recognized by the WTO member countries. There also was a 'Q and A session' on the section of the Memorandum.

It should be noted that the Organization’s Secretariat received a full package of required documents, including answers to more than 300 questions from member countries, checklists of illustrative questions on the use of technical barriers to commerce, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, 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 WTO's agreements when preparing to the 4th meeting of the Working Group on Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO.

The meeting involved detailed discussion of documents submitted by the country and the Group of Negotiations on the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the WTO provided appropriate explanations.

The meeting resulted in agreement on bilateral negotiations on ensuring access to the market of goods and services from July 20 to July 31 this year, as well as on transition to the next stage of negotiations on accession to the WTO, namely, the preparation of an evidential summary, which is the basis for the Report of the Working Group on Uzbekistan's accession to the Organization.

To summarize the meeting, the Uzbek side expressed gratitude to the participants for the interest and support of Uzbekistan's initiative to access the WTO and expressed hope for further constructive cooperation hereunder.