EU ambassador says export duties on raw materials hamper Kazakhstan

ASTANA, July 4 (Itar-Tass) -- The issue of export duties is a key
obstacle in talks on Kazakhstan's accession of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), the head of the European Union delegation to
Kazakhstan, Norbert Jousten said on Monday.
The European Union insists that Kazakhstan brings down to zero its
export duties on raw materials, including agricultural materials. It is a
key condition for it to be allowed to WTO, Jousten said at the second
international mining and metallurgical congress in Astana.
According to the EU ambassador, the signing of a bilateral agreement
between the European Union and Kazakhstan on its entry to the WTO proceeds
as scheduled. Currently, the issue of export duties is a key obstacle for
the agreement to be signed. In his words, the sides are currently
specifying a list of provisions that would limit export duties on certain
types of raw materials that are supplied to the European market. "We want
to reduce these export duties to zero," he said.
According to Jousten, a total of 48 percent of Kazakhstan's exports go
to the European Union, as compared with 15 percent in 2000.