U.S., WTO Members Express Alarm Over Russia's Delay In Joining ITA

摘要

Joined by other major trading partners, the United States late last week expressed alarm that Russia has so far failed to take final action necessary to uphold its commitment to join the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) before it accedes to the World Trade Organization on Aug. 22. At an informal July 20 meeting of the WTO's ITA Committee, the U.S. expressed "strong concern" that Russia has not yet submitted its final ITA tariff-elimination schedules for verification and approval by members, according to Geneva sources. Similar sentiments were expressed by the representatives of the European Union, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia, these sources said.