WTO formally adopts Russia accession agreement

　　GENEVA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- A ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization in Geneva formally adopted the accession agreement of the Russia Federation¹, drawing a finishing line for the country's 18-year-long membership accession.

　　Russia Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina told ministers and trade representatives from all WTO members after the adoption² of the accession agreement that it is an event both Russia and the World Community have been waiting for a long time.

　　"WTO members will get access to a common market of 165 million people (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan),"she said.

　　WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said it is a"historic moment for the Russia Federation and for the rule-based Multilateral Trading System."

　　With the accession of Russia, he said, the WTO will cover over 97 percent of all world trade.

　　Russia will become a formal WTO member 30 days after the adoption of the agreement.

　　The Russian accession agreement contains 30 bilateral³ agreements on market access for services and 57 on market access for goods. On average, the final legally binding⁴ tariff⁵ ceiling for Russia will be 7.8 percent compared with a 2011 average of 10 percent for all products.

　　The average tariff ceiling for agriculture products will be 10.8 percent, lower than the current average of 13.2 percent, while the ceiling average for manufactured goods will be 7.3 percent versus⁶ the 9.5 percent average today on manufactured imports.

　　The final bound rate will be implemented⁷ on the date of accession for more than one third of national tariff lines with another quarter of the tariff cuts to be put in place three years later.

　　The longest implementation⁸ period is 8 years for poultry⁹, followed by 7 years for motor cars, helicopters and civil aircraft.

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

3 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

4 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

5 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

6 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

7 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

8 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

9 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?