BELARUS TRADE AGREEMENT COMPLIANCE AND MONITORING

UNCLAS MINSK 001081 SIPDIS SIPDIS PASS USTR FOR HIRSH STATE/EB/TPP/MTA EKOCH COMMERCE/TCC/4110 USDA/ITP/FAS BERTSCH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD BO SUBJECT: BELARUS TRADE AGREEMENT COMPLIANCE AND MONITORING REF: STATE 152063 ¶1. Responses keyed to paragraph 11 of reftel: ¶A. Only one trade agency, State, is represented at Post. ¶B. Contact person: Nathan Lane, Deputy Political/Economic Section Chief lanenp@state.gov tel. (375-17) 210-1283 ext. 4434 fax (375-17) 234-78-53 Backup Dmitriy Semenov, Political/Economic Assistant semenovdv@state.gov tel. (375-17) 210-1283 ext. 4556 fax (375-17) 234-78-53 ¶C. Post has not received trade agreement complaints. ¶D. Post monitors economic events closely, and has noted the need for the government to comply with existing trade agreements -- particularly with regards to intellectual property rights -- in the context of Belarus' haphazard attempts to negotiate WTO entry. Stewart