MOSCOW, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- With only a few issues hanging, Russia may complete talks on joining the World Trade Organization as soon as April, the Economic Development Ministry said.Maxim Medvedkov, head of the ministry's Trade Negotiation Department, said a new round of talks will begin in Geneva, Switzerland, next week, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday."It's technically possible to complete the talks in April," Medvedkov said, which would allow accession by early 2012.

GENEVA (Reuters) - A World Trade Organization panel backed South Korea on Tuesday in a challenge to a controversial U.S. method for calculating duties on unfairly priced imports, after the United States offered no defense in the dispute. The ruling is the latest in a series of defeats for the United States over zeroing, a method of calculating anti-dumping duties that is opposed by all other WTO members.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Top negotiators from the world's largest trading powers will meet next week to push for a global trade accord, a signal that political momentum may be building for completion of the stalled talks.European Commission spokesman John Clancy said on Monday that the meeting, the first at such a high level since talks at the World Trade Organization broke down in 2008, would take place on January 28 during a conference in Switzerland.

Vietnam will consume around 2.9 million tonnes of meat in 2011, 6.5-7 percent more than the previous year, says the Export-Import Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).To meet the domestic needs for all kinds of meet in 2011, the MoIT will have to import between 90,000-100,000 tonnes.The Export-Import Department has attributed the big import volume to the negative impacts of natural disasters and epidemics on the domestic output of cattle and poultry products in 2010.

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) Trade ministers from key WTO members, including India, will be meeting at Davos in Switzerland on January 29, amidst low expectations for breakthrough for the 10-year old Doha negotiations for a global trade deal.The informal meeting to be hosted by Switzerland on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum event, will also be attended by the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy, a source said.

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- China Daily on Monday issued an commentary on Sino-U.S. trade cooperation.Chinese market "cash cow" of the U.S.

GENEVA - For the first time in over 13 years of talks, World Trade Organization (WTO) Intellectual Property negotiators have started work on producing a single draft text for setting up a multilateral geographical indications register for wines and spirits.A press release by the Organization, a draft on notification — the first of six broad topics of the system to be discussed — was circulated by chairperson Darlington Mwape at an informal meeting of the full membership on January 13, 2011.

Government representatives from around the world convened in Cancun, Mexico late last year for the UN climate change negotiations in an effort to reach agreement on a successor regime to the Kyoto protocol, which expires next year.In the wake of the Copenhagen talks, it is no surprise that climate negotiations are perceived by many as having settled into a familiar pattern that has come to characterise large scale global negotiations with no real constructive outcomes emerging.

Baku - APA-ECONOMICS. Turkmenistan’s leader said Saturday his energy-rich country was ready to sell gas to Europe as the EU Commission urged it to apply for membership in the World Trade Organisation, AFP reported."Turkmenistan’s adhesion to the WTO would exert positive influence on economic development in the country and its attraction for investors," Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said after talks with President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

A cooperation agreement and free trade deal discussion will help accelerate the relationship between the European Union and Vietnam in 2011, EU ambassador to Vietnam Sean Doyle said last week.“Building on recent agreements and on strong growth both in Vietnam’s exports to Europe and in Europe’s investment in Vietnam, both sides can look forward to a very fruitful year in 2011,” said the ambassador, who is also head of the EU delegation to Vietnam.