February 5, 2003. Armenia has become a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO is the most important institutional component of the process of globalization, and it is thanks to this institute that international trade over the past 10 years has grown by more than 60%, while world GDP grew by only 42%. The lion’s share of trade was and falls on developed countries. But their share decreased from 81% to 74.8%, mainly due to the leading development of the catching up economies of East Asia (without Japan) and partly Latin America.
It is obvious that Armenia in the process of its development will more and more participate in international trade. It is also obvious that there is practically no alternative to membership in the WTO. Armenia became the 4th CIS country that joined the WTO after Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Georgia. It should be emphasized that, apparently, Armenia was a unique case in the history of international trade relations, since at the time of entering this structure it occupied fourth place after countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Estonia on the liberalization of foreign trade. The conditions of membership in the WTO in Armenia were overfulfilled long before the actual membership, and the weighted average actual import tariff is much lower than the required (according to the data for 2001. It is 1.9%). The process of reception of Armenia took more than 10 years, and this also distinguishes Armenia from other CIS countries that have become a WTO for much shorter time. Despite the fact that membership in itself will not lead to any visible changes in the short term, it creates a sufficient field for the government. In this regard, we note two circumstances.
As you know, the fundamental principle of the WTO is a rejection of discrimination in trade for the member countries of the WTO. But Turkey, which actually carries out the trading and transport blockade of Armenia, used the right to “non -use”, that is, voting for the adoption of Armenia in the WTO (which is the undoubted success of the Armenian negotiators), Turkey at the same time announced that it would not use the Rules of the WTO in relation to Armenia. I believe that Armenia also had to use this right in order to further be the opportunity to an adequate response in case of opening the boundaries. Indeed, in this case, Türkiye will be able to establish discriminatory conditions for Armenian manufacturers, and Armenia will be forced to obey the general rules of the WTO. However, all this is in the hypothetical perspective.
The second, much more relevant circumstance for us is the use of the right to non -discrimination in relations with Georgia, which is a member of the WTO. As you know, from Georgia, a discriminatory tariff for Armenian cargo is used, which is almost 50% higher than the tariff for Azerbaijani cargoes. If this issue was the subject of bilateral agreements before Armenia in the WTO, now it is already the subject of multilateral consideration. After February 5, Armenia has a full legal right to demand the establishment of an equal transit transport tariff for Armenian goods with Azerbaijani cargoes. Having solved the issue of reducing tariffs in Georgia, Armenia can receive immediate and significant winning from membership in the WTO. Georgia is unlikely to violate this fundamental principle of the WTO, t. To. It may encounter significant problems, including considering this issue in arbitration and payment of significant compensation.
Thus, the membership of Armenia in the WTO is only a mechanism that must really be used for the purpose of further economic development.
