Recent tensions between Brussels and Moscow have
taken on a trade dimension, with EU Trade Commissioner Karel
De Gucht urging Russia to amend what the EU views as
a series of restrictive trade practices. De Gucht
reminded the recently-acceded country that it was now a part of the WTO and, as
such, is required to operate under the established multilateral trade rules.
Russia’s long-awaited entrance into the WTO owed
much to the support of a European Union eager to avoid the barriers that
resulted from trading with a non-member country. However, the two sides have
been at odds over several issues since Russia’s formal accession last month.
According to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, Russia has been
finding ways to close its markets to competitors, in violation of WTO rules.
According to De Gucht, these and other measures have
stood in the way of “significant market opening … due to take place under
Russia’s WTO commitments.”
Moscow had also provoked Brussels by announcing in
March a ban on the import of live animals from the EU. The EU trade chief
called the situation a “clear case of a regulatory measure acting as a tool of
trade protection.”
De Gucht says the
livestock issue and additional conflicts involving cases of anti-dumping and
other trade defence measures are not starting Russia
off on the right foot with the global trade body. De Gucht
has expressed his willingness to use the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanisms if
Russia does not begin to follow multilateral trade rules.