UKRAINE WTO UPDATE: JANUARY 12

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000082

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR USTR
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR KLEIN/MOLNAR
USDOC FOR 4201/DOC/ITA/MAC/BISNIS
USDOC FOR 4231/ITA/OEENIS/NISD/CLUCYCK
STATE FOR EUR/UMB, EB/TPP/BTA, EB/TPP/MTA

E.O.: 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD WTRO ECON PGOV UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE WTO UPDATE: JANUARY 12

REF: A. 2006 KYIV 4667

B. 2006 KYIV 4648

C. 2006 KYIV 4576


1. (SBU) Summary: Ukraine's Parliament passed a resolution on
January 9 calling for a speedy conclusion to WTO accession
negotiations. The GOU is working on five outstanding regulatory
acts, to be issued at the Cabinet of Ministers level or below, which
are required for accession. These five acts are currently going
through the interagency clearance process. The GOU is anxious to
receive feedback from major trade partners regarding recently
adopted legislation. To keep accession on track, Ukraine hopes for
consultations in Washington in late January to be followed by a
Working Party meeting in mid-February. A Ministry of Economy
official conveyed to us the Ministry's belief it had removed
obstacles to U.S. beef and pork imports, and its desire to begin
discussing an audit of the U.S. veterinary inspection system. Two
shipments of U.S. beef entered Ukraine. End Summary.


2. (U) This latest edition in a series of regular update cables
regarding the status of Ukraine's WTO accession (refs B-C and
previous) covers the period December 23 - January 12.

Rada Pushes for Accession
--------------


3. (U) The Rada (parliament) passed a non-binding resolution on
January 9 calling on the Cabinet of Ministers to take all necessary
measures to conclude negotiations for Ukraine's WTO accession. A
total of 311 MPs voted for the resolution in a show of support for a
speedy accession.

Outstanding Normative Acts
--------------


4. (U) Following the passage of the lion's share of WTO-required
legislation at the end of 2006, the GOU has now turned to
outstanding regulatory acts required for Ukraine to join the WTO.
These regulatory acts, while not as critical as the WTO-related
legislation, require no parliamentary action and are much less
contentious. The GOU issued one set of regulations, concerning
import licensing procedures, back in November, and has identified
five more as required for accession:
-- Cabinet of Ministers Resolution on the registration of medicinal
drugs
-- State Customs Service Order on customs valuation procedures
-- Cabinet of Ministers Resolution on plant varieties
-- Ministry of Transportation Order on railway transport rates
-- Cabinet of Ministers Resolution on quota allocation for import of
raw cane sugar


5. (U) These five acts have all been drafted and are currently in
various stages of the interagency clearance process. The GOU has
removed from this list regulatory acts governing job and residency
permits for foreigners, and minimum indicative prices. After recent
consultations with Working Party members, the GOU believes these
particular regulatory acts are not required for accession. Post
will send an updated legislation tracker to EUR/UMB by email.

GOU Anxious for Feedback on Laws
--------------


6. (U) Econoff met on January 10 with Vyacheslav Tsymbal, director
of the Ministry of Economy's WTO Division, who said that the GOU is
anxious to receive feedback from major trade partners on the
recently-passed WTO legislation. Ukraine hopes that the next
meeting of its WTO Working Party can take place in mid-February in
order to maintain momentum towards accession. Tsymbal noted that
the GOU would seek bilateral consultations with the United States
prior to the Working Party meeting, preferably in late January, to
discuss the legislation and agricultural support issues.

Beef and Pork Imports
--------------


7. (SBU) Tsymbal told Econoff that the Ministry of Economy believed
its intervention (ref A) with the Ministry of Agriculture had solved
the problems involving import of U.S. beef and pork. He said that
trade should begin flowing normally, and reiterated the GOU desire
to arrange for a system audit soon, asking if the USG could at least
provide an estimated date for when the audit could occur. Econoff
promised to forward the GOU request to Washington, but noted that it
would likely take some time to confirm that trade is actually
flowing freely.

KYIV 00000082 002 OF 002




8. (SBU) So far, two shipments of U.S. beef have entered Ukraine in
January 2007. A long-awaited shipment of U.S. beef liver landed in
Odesa on January 4, was customs and veterinary cleared, and has been
sold on the local markets. FAS Kyiv reports another shipment of
approximately 75 tons of U.S. beef subsequently also cleared
Ukrainian customs. (Comment: However, as this latter shipment was
sourced only in EU-certified U.S. facilities and was brought in by
an importer with a somewhat dubious reputation for business
practices, post would caution these shipments are not yet conclusive
evidence of the openness of Ukraine to the U.S. beef and pork
trade.)

TAYLOR