BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The European Union on Tuesday signed a bilateral agreement for Serbia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), officials said.

Leading financial experts have warned domestic banks that they could suffer market losses this year as Viet Nam's commitments with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the operation of foreign banks comes into effect. Foreign banks, which have become stronger in recent years, will now be operating on a level playing field with domestic banks.

Damascus, (SANA)_ Syria's Ministry of Economy and Trade in cooperation with the concerned parties continue procedures for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

WASHINGTON: The US law slapping a hefty visa fee hike on Indian companies may be in violation of the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services, according to a legal analysis. The US law slapping a hefty visa fee hike on Indian companies may be in violation of the World Trade Organisation's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), according to a legal analysis conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy, a Virginia based think tank.

Vietnam cut the import quota of sugar in 2011 to 250,000 tons, down 50,000 tons from 2010, according to the Circular 45/2010/TT-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade(MoIT). The ministry allowed local firms to import 150,000 tons of refined and crude sugar input to manufacture; 50,000 tons of crude sugar for sugar factories and 50,000 tons of refined sugar for traders.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said India will not “rush to” the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the “regressive” steps taken by the US recently, which include an increase in the visa fee and a special levy on foreign manufacturers.

COLONIA, Uruguay: La Paz urged Seoul Wednesday to reopen its market to Uruguayan beef, and agreed to back South Korea's bid to negotiate a free trade deal with its Mercosur trade bloc partners.The request came during a visit by South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, who did not address the media.Uruguayan authorities are keen to end the South Korean ban on beef from the South American nation imposed in 2001 after a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

UK - Europe should rely less on direct farming subsidies and reward farmers more for their environmental efforts and the other work they do to enhance the countryside, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said today.Mrs Spelman, who will speak at the Oxford Farming Conference today, said that the new Common Agricultural Policy, currently being negotiated and to be in place from 2014, needed to be fundamentally different.

The European Union is not about to lift its embargo on arms sales to China despite increased trade, a diplomat said."There remains a broad consensus within the EU that the time is not right to lift the arms embargo. We need to see clear progress on the issues that necessitated the embargo in the first place, namely on civil liberties and political rights," a British diplomat told EU observer Tuesday.The embargo was imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.

The issue about import duties changing or their temporary cancellation for rye and buckwheat imports should be considered in the long-term prospects, due to the fact that the changes may need to come to agreement with all the countries-participants of the World Trade Organization (WTO).The opinion was announced by Oleg Malskiy, the partner of the International Juridical Group AstapovLawyers, while commenting the initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to impose the zero duties for the above stated commodities groups.