Estonia drags its feet on WTO laws

TALLINN (BNS) - The Estonian Parliament may not manage to adopt the 12 laws and amendments required for the country to be admitted to the World Trade Organization by the Oct. 31 deadline.

Several of the required bills still have not been discussed even at government level.

"The Foreign Ministry has asked the government to bring forward the discussion of bills which have been scheduled far too late," said Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Ehtel Halliste.

The foreign minister had earlier said that to become a full WTO member, the Parliament must ratify the organization's founding agreement and accession protocol together with supplements and adopt 16 legal acts, otherwise accession may be postponed by several years.

Halliste would not confirm whether ratification of the WTO founding agreement alone or ratification of the whole package of bills by Oct. 31 would secure Estonia's accession into the organization.

"I can only say that these laws will help us from the first day of accession to WTO," Halliste said.

Government spokesman Priit Poiklik said that working out the bills required for accession to WTO is a priority of the government. He said that the government would make every effort to ensure the bills are adopted in time.