WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Hina) - Croatia expects United States support in the settlement of the dispute which is currently preventing a successful conclusion of negotiations on Croatia's access to the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
Croatian Economy Minister Nenad Porges said during Thursday's talks in Washington with Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Susan Esserman. Speaking to the press after the talks, Minister Porges explained Croatia had offered a compromise settlement of the disagreement with France, i.e. the European Union (EU), regarding audio-visual services. Porges believes the compromise is more acceptable than the so called Baltic model, used for the conclusion of negotiations with Estonia and Latvia. Even though Croatia has concluded bilateral negotiations on accessing the WTO with the U.S., the U.S. has refused the Baltic model in Croatia's case given Croatia's being neither an
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Hina) - Croatia expects United States support in
the settlement of the dispute which is currently preventing a
successful conclusion of negotiations on Croatia's access to the
World Trade Organisation (WTO), Croatian Economy Minister Nenad
Porges said during Thursday's talks in Washington with Deputy U.S.
Trade Representative Susan Esserman.
Speaking to the press after the talks, Minister Porges explained
Croatia had offered a compromise settlement of the disagreement
with France, i.e. the European Union (EU), regarding audio-visual
services.
Porges believes the compromise is more acceptable than the so
called Baltic model, used for the conclusion of negotiations with
Estonia and Latvia.
Even though Croatia has concluded bilateral negotiations on
accessing the WTO with the U.S., the U.S. has refused the Baltic
model in Croatia's case given Croatia's being neither an EU
associate member, nor in any way institutionally tied with the EU.
Esserman shares Croatia's view that the French position is contrary
to WTO's basic principles. Other steps the U.S. intends to take to
settle the issue include the possibility of Trade Representative
Charlene Barshefsky directly contacting EU officials, she added.
Croatia hopes a solution will be found at an EU Council of Ministers
meeting on 11 October, in which case the task force in charge of
Croatia's access to the WTO would convene in Geneva the next day for
its last session. Croatia's access would then formally be confirmed
at the 4 October session of the WTO Main Committee, and finally
Parliament would ratify the joining agreement.
Even if the turn of events were as positive as outlined, Croatia
could not formally attend as full-right member WTO's ministerial
conference in late November/early December. Namely, a period of two
months is necessary for the ratified agreement to come into force.
Croatia would attend the Seattle conference as a country with which
the access procedure has been completed.
Asked whether his U.S. interlocutors pointed to the negative
effects of Croatia's dispute with the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague relative to the
extradition of war crimes suspect Mladen Naletilic Tuta, Porges
said the matter had not been mentioned. He stressed however that his
Washington meetings did confirm that U.S. insistence must not be
underestimated.
(hina) ha