Five More WTO Bills Adopted

Ukraine’s drive to join the World Trade Organization continued on track yesterday as parliament adopted five more bills in final readings, bringing the number adopted up to 14 out of 21 reportedly needed. The bills tackled some of the thorniest issues of Ukraine’s trade regime: export duties on ferrous metal, regulation of the domestic sugar and milk markets, and import quotas on raw sugar. Tom Warner: The bill on scrap ferrous metal export duties gradually reduces them over six years, which raises the possibility that the EU might have negotiated a similar slow phase-out of its import restrictions on Ukrainian steel, as the EU has traditionally linked the two issues.