RESTRICTED WT/TPR/W/115 7 November 2016 (16-6117) Page: 1/77 Trade Policy Review Body RUSSIAN FEDERATION DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING* HELD ON 28 AND 30 SEPTEMBER 2016 Delegations are invited to submit factual corrections, if any, on their own statement to the Secretariat (Mrs Barbara Blanquart: [email protected], or to [email protected]) no later than 21 November 2016. Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales FÉDÉRATION DE RUSSIE PROJET DE COMPTE RENDU DE LA RÉUNION* TENUE LES 28 ET 30 SEPTEMBRE 2016 Les délégations sont invitées à soumettre leurs éventuelles corrections factuelles concernant leurs propres déclarations au Secrétariat (Mme Barbara Blanquart: [email protected], ou [email protected]) le 21 novembre 2016 au plus tard. Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales FEDERACIÓN DE RUSIA PROYECTO DE ACTA DE LA REUNIÓN* CELEBRADA LOS DÍAS 28 Y 30 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2016 Las delegaciones pueden enviar a la Secretaría (Sra. Barbara Blanquart: [email protected], o [email protected]) a más tardar el 21 de noviembre de 2016 las correcciones fácticas que deseen introducir en sus propias declaraciones. _______________ * In Original language only/En langue originale seulement/En el idioma original solamente. WT/TPR/W/115 • Russian Federation - 2 - TRADE POLICY REVIEW RUSSIAN FEDERATION DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING Chairperson: Ms Irene Young (Hong Kong, China) CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON ....................................................... 3 2 OPENING STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ................................................................................................................... 5 3 STATEMENT BY THE DISCUSSANT ................................................................................ 9 4 STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS ........................................................................................ 15 5 REPLIES BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ............................................................................................... 61 6 CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON ......................................................... 76 Note: Advance written questions and additional questions by WTO Members, and the replies provided by the Russian Federation are reproduced in document WT/TPR/M/345/Add.1 and will be available online at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp_rep_e.htm. WT/TPR/W/115 • Russian Federation - 3 - 1 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 1.1. The first Trade Policy Review of the Russian Federation was held on 28 and 30 September 2016. The Chairperson, Ms. Irene Young (Hong Kong, China), welcomed the delegation of the Russian Federation headed by Mr. Maksim Medvedkov, Head of the Department for Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation; the delegation from Moscow; and the discussant, Ambassador Vangelis Vitalis (New Zealand). 1.2. The Chairperson recalled the purpose of the Trade Policy Reviews and the main elements of the procedures for the meeting. The report by the Russian Federation was contained in document WT/TPR/G/345 and that of the WTO Secretariat in WT/TPR/S/345. 1.3. Questions by the following delegations had been submitted in writing before the deadline: Malaysia; Oman; Canada; Australia; Switzerland; Singapore; Mexico; China; European Union; Norway; Japan; United States; Argentina; Ukraine; Chinese Taipei; Costa Rica; India; Chile; Peru; Indonesia and Korea. The following delegations submitted written questions after the deadline: Benin; Brunei Darussalam; Colombia; Saudi Arabia; Hong Kong, China; New Zealand; Paraguay; Thailand; Republic of Moldova; El Salvador; Ecuador and Turkey. 1.4. The economic environment in the Russian Federation had been challenging over the last few years. Real GDP had decreased by 3.7% in 2015, and was expected to dip further this year. The main cause for this contraction had been the fall in oil prices, coupled with insufficient diversification in the exports. Economic sanctions imposed by some countries and the countermeasures by the Russian Federation had also played a role. The Government had responded with an anti-crisis plan, but GDP growth was slow to pick up. There was clearly a need to accelerate economic reforms. But were there factors undermining their success? What further steps the authorities were taking, or planned to take, to spur the country's development? Members wished to know more about the broader economic context in which Russia's trade policies operated. 1.5. Focussing on trade policies, Russia's accession to the WTO in 2012 had been a historic moment; a landmark in the country's integration into the multilateral trading system. It had come with wide-ranging commitments in goods and services, which required fundamental changes to Russia's domestic legislation and trade regime. Four years on, Members had witnessed tremendous liberalization efforts and remarkable improvements, but this was still very much an ongoing process. Tariff reductions, for instance, will not be completed until 2020, and accession negotiations for the Government Procurement Agreement had yet to begin. While Members could expect elimination of WTO-inconsistent measures applied under the Auto Investment Programme in 2 years' time, in other areas such as customs control and import restrictions, Members had raised new concerns. Some of these issues were addressed in other WTO bodies, and could only be resolved in those contexts. As far as this TPR was concerned, what Members might expect of this TPR was greater transparency of the policies involved. 1.6. At the regional level, economic integration of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Member states was a key priority of the Russian Federation. The authority over many aspects of Russia's foreign trade regime now rested with the EAEU institutions, and there was coordinated policy for sectors such as agriculture. As the Secretariat remarked, to a certain extent, the EAEU guided the trade policy reform agenda of the Russian Federation. The policies and legal competence of the Eurasian Economic Commission were therefore matters of considerable interest to WTO Members. Many questions had been asked about these, as well as EAEU's first comprehensive FTA with Vietnam. Members looked forward to the delegation's elaboration. 1.7. In two crucial trade areas, namely services and investment, the competence for negotiations were retained by individual EAEU members. From the advance questions, the Chairperson had seen a lot of interest in Russia's investment regime, in particular regarding market access limitations, approval procedures and the reform 'roadmaps'. In view of the predominance of state-owned enterprises in many sectors including banking, transport and energy, and the huge untapped potential for private investment, questions had also been raised regarding the much delayed privatization programme. WT/TPR/W/115 • Russian Federation - 4 - 1.8. Regarding sectoral trade policies, the Chairperson expected interesting discussion on Energy from both market access and environmental perspectives, given Russia's influence as the world's second-largest oil and gas producer. Agriculture was also the focus of many questions, mainly in relation to import bans, TRQs, domestic support and export assistance. 1.9. The more than 700 questions of course covered much more than what the Chairperson highlighted above. She left it to Members to discuss in greater detail trade issues of interest to them and of systemic importance to the multilateral trading system. WT/TPR/W/115 • Russian Federation - 5 - 2 OPENING STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (MR. MAKSIM MEDVEDKOV) 2.1. I am very pleased to head the Russian delegation to attend the first WTO Trade Policy Review of Russia. On behalf of the delegation, I would like to thank you, Madam Chair, for your warm and substantive opening remarks. 2.2. Many thanks also go to Ambassador Vitalis for assuming the role of discussant. 2.3. I would like also to express my sincere gratitude to the Secretariat for outstanding hard work in preparing comprehensive report – the first one for Russia– as well as for organizing this meeting. We deeply appreciate the excellent cooperation we have had with Mr. Willy Alfaro and his team of experts. 2.4. Last but not least, let me extend our deep appreciation for the Members' visible interest in Russia's trade policies and practices. We have received 753 questions from 33 Members (including ASEAN and LDC group) by yesterday. For the past few week,s we have been working on them around the clock together with our colleagues from two dozen government agencies. By now, written responses for 617 of questions have been circulated. Please be assured that the remaining responses will be provided in line with the established practices. 2.5. We hope that our answers as well as the discussion today will enable Members to better understand Russia's and Eurasian Economic Union's trade policies. We also hope that through this process we can get a clearer picture of how Members assess specific elements of Russia's trade regime and gather valuable ideas aimed at improving its efficiency. Challenges 2.6. Saying that, I come down to business. Four years have passed since Russia acceded to the WTO. Now we can conclude that both the process and the implementation of the terms of the accession gave an extra impetus to increasing competitiveness of Russia's economy. It helped to boost demand