The Ministry of Economy named four arguments against Russia's withdrawal from the WTO

Participation in the WTO has brought Russia a lot of benefits, it is necessary to remain a member of this organization, despite Western trade sanctions, says the head of the Ministry of Economic Development.This is how he responded to the deputies' initiative to withdraw from the WTO

The Ministry of Economic Development believes that Russia needs to maintain its participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) despite Western trade sanctions, which, according to Moscow, run counter to international trade rules.

The letter with arguments in favor of membership in the WTO was sent by the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov on May 5 in response to the appeal of the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov regarding the draft law on withdrawal from the WTO, prepared by communist deputies back in 2018. The letter is at the disposal of RBC, its authenticity was confirmed by a federal official.

The authors of the bill pointed out that Russia's participation in the WTO did not prevent other countries from imposing numerous sanctions aimed at interrupting economic ties. Such behavior is contrary to the fundamental principles of the WTO, and therefore Russia should withdraw from it in order to protect national interests, the explanatory note says. “WTO rules have done enormous harm to Russia!” the communists say.

The Ministry of Economic Development did not support the bill. Reshetnikov gave a number of arguments why Russia should not leave the WTO, the main ones are as follows.

The WTO is an important tool to support Russian exports, and withdrawal from it will create risks for businesses and citizens.

Currently, the WTO includes 164 members, in the structure of exports of which raw materials, industrial and agricultural products, as well as services are present in different proportions. Russian exports are developing in all these areas, Reshetnikov said. Moreover, the WTO is an important tool to support it, especially against the backdrop of the task of reorienting trade flows to the markets of friendly or neutral countries under sanctions. Since the WTO agreements and rules are the legal basis for relations with such countries, the normal development of trade relations will be impossible if the WTO leaves it, the minister believes. This will create additional risks for Russian exporters, as well as importers, producers and consumers.

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The law of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is fully based on WTO law. This means that after leaving the WTO, Russia will continue to fulfill the vast majority of obligations in the field of trade in goods, but will completely lose its rights as a WTO member, the minister noted. The country, according to him, will be bound by lower tariff obligations of its partners in the EAEU, which will entail significant losses for the economy.

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The loss of WTO membership would insulate Russia from developing new rules for global trade.

The WTO is the only multilateral organization that develops international rules for global trade, and Russia's participation makes it possible to create more comfortable conditions for the activities of domestic companies in foreign markets. Withdrawal from the WTO will lead to the complete isolation of Russia from this process. This means that new rules (including in the field of fisheries, services, investments, trade and political aspects of the green agenda, e-commerce, agriculture and other important areas), which are already being negotiated at the WTO, will be formed without taking into account Russian interests, Reshetnikov warned.

WTO rules do not limit Russia in taking measures to protect security.

Russia adequately and timely responds to foreign sanctions with appropriate countermeasures, and also defends its trade and economic rights. For example, Ukraine at one time failed to challenge Russian restrictions on the transit of goods, Reshetnikov recalled.

“In an attempt to deprive Russia of the above benefits from WTO membership, a group of sanctioning countries is attempting to limit Russia's participation in the activities of the organization, considering this as one of the tools to ensure the economic isolation of the Russian economy. We actively oppose these attempts,” the minister concluded.

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In mid-March, the WTO reported receiving a statement from 14 members, which proposed to deprive Russia of the most favored nation treatment in trade. "These [WTO] members have expressed their opposition to the conflict in Ukraine and Russia's role in it," the report said. Earlier, the most favored nation status in trade was decided to deprive Russia of the G7 countries. However, the EU noted that it decided to act not through an increase in tariffs on imports from Russia, but through a set of sanctions, which are a ban on the import or export of goods (for example, a ban on the import of Russian coal, ferrous metals, etc.).

The fact that Russia should update the strategy of participation in the WTO, as well as conduct a comprehensive assessment of the legality of the decisions of Western counterparties, was announced on May 20 by President Vladimir Putin .

Reshetnikov on May 21 at the APEC ministerial meeting in Thailand said that "unilateral restrictions against Russia - one of the world's largest suppliers of food and fertilizers - including in the field of payments and logistics, make a decisive contribution to the deterioration of the situation [on the energy and food markets]" . “Their unilateral and politically motivated trade restrictions are a threat to the multilateral trading system. A large-scale wave of violations of WTO rules “under the sauce” of exceptions for reasons of national security is a serious blow to the organization,” Reshetnikov said. “Russia is ready to actively participate in the search for joint solutions. But this process cannot be one-sided,” he said.