The AGEPI representatives, Eugeniu Rusu, Director General and Liliana Vieru, Head of the Communication and International Relations Department, participated in the meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body within the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from July 20 to 22, this year.

The delegation of the Republic of Moldova was led by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Vadim Gumene. The delegation also included Ambassador Tatiana Molcean, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the UN Office in Geneva and other International Organizations, Elena Cravet, First Secretary, country delegate to the WTO, UNECE, UNCTAD and the President of the Competition Council Alexei Ghertescu.

At the beginning of the meeting, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Vadim Gumene, presented the developments and challenges faced by the economic and commercial development of the country in the period 2015-2021, the trade policy and the multilateral trade system as well as the regional economic integration of the country.

After the presentation of the country report, the State Secretary assured that the Republic of Moldova will continue the effort of trade liberalization, global economic integration and development.

WTO members appreciated our country’s commitment to the multilateral trade system established within the WTO and the progress made by our country in implementing reforms, especially those aimed at the regulatory environment; trade and investment for local and international entrepreneurs; protection of intellectual property rights; government procurement; ICT and e-commerce.

At the same time, 17 WTO members requested additional information on various fields and encouraged the authorities to deepen trade facilitation reforms. More than 180 questions were addressed to the Moldovan delegation, some of them being focused on various aspects of intellectual property.

The Head of the Delegation, Vadim Gumene, assured the member countries that the Republic of Moldova will continue to work in the field of trade policy, based on the WTO’s fundamental principles of predictability and non-discrimination of WTO members.

The review of trade policies and practices applies periodically to all WTO members. The Republic of Moldova goes through this exercise once every 7 years, and the first evaluation took place in 2015. The State Agency on Intellectual Property is the authority responsible for monitoring and implementing at national level the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) of the WTO.