Latvia welcomes Ukraine's membership in World Trade Organisation

On 5 February this year, the WTO General Council approved the terms for Ukraine's accession to the WTO. Following ratification of the deal at the Parliament of Ukraine, the country will become a full WTO member.

This means that Ukraine has concluded an almost 15-year long process of accession negotiations, which has allowed Ukraine to implement reforms vital for the alignment of its foreign trade policies and the restructuring of its economic sectors, so as to comply with the basic standards of present day world trade.

Ukraine's WTO membership is essential for Latvia, as this will provide an opportunity for building mutual trade relations based on binding regulations of international trade, thus ensuring more predictable and transparent Ukrainian legislation.

Ukraine's membership in the WTO will inspire confidence among the Latvian business community with regard to the stability of its partner's trade regulations, and provide clear conditions on issues which play an important part in trade, such as the protection of intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, freedom of transit, customs procedures, customs duties and formalities, as well as guarantees for the simplification of trading regulations.

Ukraine's accession to the WTO is an important step in the promotion of closer co-operation between Ukraine and the EU as well as other member states of WTO. It is also at the same time a precondition for beginning negotiations on the establishment of a free trade area within the framework of a new enhanced EU- Ukraine agreement. Latvia has already expressed its support for the conclusion of such an agreement with Ukraine. 

When visiting Ukraine on 31 January – 1 February this year, Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins, in discussions with Ukrainian Government officials, expressed his personal satisfaction over the conclusion of Ukraine's negotiations regarding WTO membership.

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