CIS plenipotentiaries to meet in Minsk

Baku, September 20, AZERTAC Participants of the next session of the CIS Plenipotentiaries Council in Minsk will discuss a draft agreement on free trade in services, according to BelTA. Attending the session will be Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev. CIS plenipotentiaries will review the status of implementation of the provisions of the CIS free trade zone agreement of 18 October 2011. This agreement envisages the development of an agreement on free trade in services, along with some other documents. “The creation of a zone of free trade in services in the CIS will be the next stage after the free trade zone agreement,” the CIS representatives added. The Executive Committee noted that the market of services in the CIS amounts to several hundreds billion U.S. dollars per year. The agreement will help ensure stable development and operation of the free trade zone and will create favorable conditions for further growth of the economies of the CIS member states. Besides, those working on the draft agreement on free trade in services have already made progress. “In the result of quite tough negotiations, the parties have agreed on the structure of the document and reaffirmed their intention to establish the so-called WTO+ regime, i.e. to grant more preferential access to their markets to the countries of the CIS in comparison with the WTO member states,” the Executive Committee said. It also stressed that the work on a draft protocol to the CIS free trade zone agreement that will define mutual obligations of the states with respect to the rules and procedures of public procurement is well underway, as well as the development of Annex 4 to the agreement that will stipulate the procedure for defining the amount of remuneration and reimbursable expenses for members of expert commissions. Other matters of cooperation between the countries of the CIS will also be discussed.