Top Democratic senator says Russia has WTO work to do

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A top Democrat in line to chair the US Senate's powerful finance committee welcomed a deal enabling Russia to join the WTO but warned the path ahead in Congress could be tricky.

"Russia's WTO membership on commercially meaningful terms is an important goal. Today's agreement is a first step in that direction," Senator Max Baucus said in a statement.

"At the same time, Russia must take additional steps to earn a welcome into the WTO," he stressed, highlighting "unacceptable levels of piracy and counterfeiting" and an "unscientific" Russian ban on US beef.

The US and Russian governments said Friday they had reached a bilateral pact that should finally permit Moscow to join the World Trade Organisation after 12 years of often stormy negotiations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061110/pl_afp/wtotradeusrussia

[Union Thug]

1. ...work to do..like killing off all those old people demanding pensions...

and lowering expectations for workers, and selling the Kremlin to Halliburton.
</sarcasm>

[nealmhughes]

2. Don't join, Boris! Save Russia from the MegaCorp, Inc.'s domain!

[bemildred]

3. Pooty-Poot will tell Baucus to go blow himself if he gets snotty. nt

[sweetheart]

4. Democratic corporate nationalisxm flexes its muscle

Take our hormone-injected, GM-fed, factory farmed, robobeef or face our protectionism.

[Vidar]

5. The WTO is an organization worthy of Stalin himself. Putin might

not be enough of a monster.