DUSHANBE, December 16, 2013, Asia-Plus – International Trade Center (ITC) recommends Tajikistan to join the Doha Round.
According to the ITC study “Trade Cooperation Program in Tajikistan. Component ONE: Policy Advice and Capacity Building, current World Trade Organization (WTO) rules cover a wide range of issues in international trade. There are still issues that are not resolved in the current rules of the WTO agreements or member’s commitments.
The Doha Round is the latest round of trade negotiations among the WTO membership. Its aim is to achieve major reform of the international trading system through the introduction of lower trade barriers and revised trade rules.
The work program covers about 20 areas of trade. The Round is also known semi-officially as the Doha Development Agenda as a fundamental objective is to improve the trading prospects of developing countries.
In particular, Tajikistan could participate in trade facilitations negotiations, which is important subject for land-locked Tajikistan, the study notes. Trade facilitation negotiations reportedly aim to clarify and improve relevant aspects of Articles V, VIII and X of the GATT 1994 with a view to further expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit.
The Doha Development Round or Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is the current trade-negotiation round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which commenced in November 2001. Its objective is to lower trade barriers around the world, which will help facilitate the increase of global trade.
We will recall that Tajikistan became a full-fledged member of the World Trade Organization on March 2, 2013. Tajikistan is now committed to following its rules and its own obligations undertaken during the negotiations. The Government has reportedly taken this important step in its economic policy, first and foremost, in order to gain predictable access to international markets and to ensure fair and equal treatment of its exporters.
