Belarus is coming to the final stage of negotiations for accession to the world trade organization (WTO). This was reported on Sunday in the ether of the Belarusian TV channel ONT the head of the main Department for foreign economic activity of the Ministry of agriculture and food Alexei Bogdanov.

"We are approaching the final stage of the process of accession to the WTO, I hope that this will happen very soon, he said. "We outlined in June of this year to hold an extended meeting with members of the Cairns group and with them to talk about what level of government support to farmers will be agreed".

In relation to the amount of customs duties Bogdanov said that Belarus seeks to join the WTO on the same conditions as Russia. In addition, according to him, accession to the organization, the country counts on additional opportunities for resolving international trade disputes through the WTO.

"Everything depends on us. Because the WTO is not a magic organisation with which they come, and once something happens, it is a kind of window of opportunity which we must use to maximum effect," he said. Among these possibilities Bogdanov attracting new investors to agriculture, the conclusion of bilateral agreements on free trade zone with the countries - WTO members.

Belarus is negotiating the accession to the WTO since 1993. To date, all partners of Belarus in the Eurasian economic Union have become members of the organization. A decision to intensify the negotiating process was received by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in 2016. Earlier, the representative of the Ministry of economy said that Minsk is planning to finalize negotiations on the accession to the WTO in the first half of 2020.

The Cairns group is an Association of countries exporting agricultural products from 20 countries that seeks to promote free trade in agricultural products.