Russia will join the WTO as a new member, and it will start reducing taxes from the New Year's Day in 2012.

According to Zhuo Shizhao, director of international trade of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Russia has finally been allowed to join the WTO (World Trade Organization) after 18 years of negotiations. Since Russia has been listed as a key market in Taiwan for the next two years, Russia’s accession to the WTO will make the trade system more transparent. Tariffs have also been lowered, helping Taiwan to further gain business opportunities in the Russian market.

According to statistics from the Bureau of International Trade, in 2010, Taiwan’s exports to Russia totaled 1.08 billion U.S. dollars, and the annual growth rate was as high as 85.8%. Chooschie described the “Russia is a surprising growth market”.

According to the International Trade Bureau, Taiwan’s main products exported to Russia include telephones, hard disk drives, disk drives, screws, steel screws, and parts and accessories for information products. From 2008 to 2010, the average tax rate in Russia was 10.3%. The tariff rate is 15.6%, and the average industrial product rate is 9.4%.

Zha Shizhao said that the 8th session of the WTO Ministerial Conference will adopt the case of Russia's membership. It is expected that tariffs will be lowered on January 1 next year, and the tax will be reduced in a transition period of 2 to 3 years, reducing the average tariff to 7.1%, and reducing the tariff on agricultural products. 11.3%, fasteners and other industrial products fell to 6.4%.

It is worth mentioning that Russia has agreed to join the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) three years after joining the country and it is expected that the tariff will be reduced to zero three years later. According to the International Trade Bureau, this is a great advantage for the export of Taiwan-funded communications products to Russia.