Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic and European Commissioner for Trade Karel de Gucht will sign a Protocol on the liberalisation of the market of goods and services between Serbia and the EU, part of Serbia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 11 January in Brussels.

Bilateral talks on market liberalisation were not conducted directly, as was the case with other prospective WTO members, because Serbia has already signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and the transitional agreement on trade and trade issues.

The bilateral protocol, to be signed tomorrow, is based on previously signed agreements which regulate all of the relevant trade issues.

The protocol will be signed on the basis of the second revised offer for the liberalisation of the Serbian market from 20 November 2008 and the third revised offer from 30 November 2009, which were submitted to WTO members through the WTO Secretariat.

The protocol is very important as it concludes talks with the EU. It is also crucial for the conclusion of bilateral talks with other WTO members, which is a sign that the WTO accession process is in the final stage.

The conclusion of talks with other interested WTO members is very significant because the overall membership talks will be brought to a close once all bilateral protocols are signed.

Serbia has already signed these protocols with Japan, Norway, Honduras and South Korea, while the protocol with Canada will most likely be signed at the end of January 2011.