NEW YORK, December 8 (RIA Novosti, Dmitry Klimentov) - The World Trade Organization (WTO) could announce a principal agreement on Russia's accession to the organization at its sixth ministerial conference in Hong Kong December 13-18, a U.S. official said Thursday.
In an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti, Gary Litman, the vice president for Europe and Eurasia of the United States Chamber of Commerce, said that Russia and the U.S. had made surprising progress in all areas in the past three or four weeks of intensive negotiations. But Litman said that Russia and the U.S. had little time before the meeting's opening on December 13 to settle all the technical issues and prepare the relevant documents.
He said both countries still had to agree on the protection of intellectual property rights in Russia, hygiene measures at the border, and the licensing of certain activities.
Litman said that Russia could reach a principal agreement on WTO accession before the end of the year, while all technical issues could be resolved in the next six months in WTO working groups.
After such measures, the U.S. will be able to grant Russia permanent status as a trade partner, and the U.S. Congress will begin debating the issue of revoking the Jackson-Vanik amendment that formally restricts U.S.-Russian trade, Litman said.
