OREANDA-NEWS. November 17, 2009. Belarus would like to settle the issue of liberalization of customs duties on its products before the country joins the World Trade Organization (WTO), President Alexander Lukashenko said when meeting a delegation of German businesses led by Chairman of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations Klaus Mangold.

Belarus would appreciate German consultations and assistance in the matter of accession to the WTO. “But before entering the WTO, Belarus would like to address the liberalization of customs duties on Belarusian goods,” the press service said.

What Belarus means is that it wants to have its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits reinstated. The benefits were suspended in 2007.

Commenting on the EU-Belarus dialogue, Lukashenko said the administration of the EU and governments of EU member-states had realized the significance of Belarus as an equal partner. “In turn, Belarus will show interest in developing ties with the EU without making it our mission to join the EU,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying.

Lukashenko said that in the dialogue with Brussels Minsk does not assume that “we have no other choice, but to ‘bend’ and ‘crawl’ into the EU.” “We have pragmatic purposes – our trade turnover with the EU is the same as with Russia, and any economic process must be supported by political and diplomatic process.”