OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus is resuming negotiations on acceding to the World Trade Organization, the Foreign Ministry of Belarus reported on Wednesday.

The talks on Belarus’ accession to the WTO were suspended after Russia became a full-fledged member of the WTO. Originally, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan had agreed to join the WTO as a single territorial unit in the framework of the Customs Union.

“On May 16, 2013 the multilateral session on Belarus’ accession to the World Trade Organization will take place at the WTO headquarters’ in Geneva,” reads a message posted by the Foreign Ministry of Belarus on its official web site.

Belarus’ Inter-institutional delegation headed by Alexander Guryanov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, will take part in the session. The delegation will include the representatives of the Ministers’ Council Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, National Bank, State Committee for Standardization, National Centre of Intellectual Property, as well as the representatives of Belarus’ Permanent Mission in Geneva.

The working group on Belarus’ accession to the WTO that includes 41 WTO countries-members will consider the regulation of foreign trade activities in Belarus and discuss further steps to be taken on the issue.

Belarus’ delegation will hold a number of meetings with the delegations of Switzerland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Salvador, Brazil, Ecuador. During the meetings the sides will discuss the conditions of goods and services access to Belarus market after Belarus’ accession to the WTO.