Switzerland and Russia have successfully concluded bilateral negotiations on Moscow's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Swiss Economy Ministry announced on Friday. The agreement leaves Russia needing only the backing of the United States, Australia and Colombia out of the WTO's 149 member states to complete the country-by-country part of the accession process. Swiss Economy Minister Joseph Deiss and his Russian counterpart German Gref signed the accord on the fringes of the annual Davos meeting of political and business leaders, the ministry said in a statement. The deal will lead to lower Russian import duties, after a transition period, for Swiss chemical products, textiles, machinery and watches amongst other goods. Russia, the largest economy still outside the Geneva-based WTO, will also grant more access to Swiss banking and insurance companies, although foreign firms will not be able to provide services through subsidiaries. Senior Russian trade negotiators have said they hope to finish all bilateral negotiations for WTO entry early in 2006. But Gref was quoted as telling Russian media on Thursday that talks with U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman in Davos had not resolved their differences, notably over financial services. Entry to the WTO requires the signing of bilateral deals with all states that demand them as well as negotiating directly with the global trade body to ensure that a candidate's domestic commercial regulations conform to WTO rules. --SP 22 36 Local Time 19 36 GMT
