The main objective of the visit was to explore the resumption of the activities of the Working Party, which has not met since July 2017. The Chair discussed the situation with senior government officials and key stakeholders, notably Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Minister of Economy Mikhail Jabbarov and State Customs Committee Head Shahin Bagirov.

The Chair also met with the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, and the Deputy Chair of the Food Safety Agency. The WTO delegation was accompanied by Ambassador Galib Israfilov, Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan in Geneva, and representatives of the Ministry of Economy.

The meetings confirmed that WTO accession continues to be an important strategic goal for the country and that broad support exists domestically for Azerbaijan’s future WTO membership.

Despite the six-year gap since the last meeting of the Working Party, the country has continued to modernize its legislative and regulatory frameworks in line with WTO norms, taking account of the specific issues raised in the accession negotiations.

Azerbaijan's relevant ministries and government agencies were well-informed about the technical issues at stake and expressed willingness and readiness to re-engage with the accession process.

Ambassador Acarsoy noted that Azerbaijan's accession negotiations had progressed well for many years but that momentum had been lost since the Working Party last met. “Interest by WTO members remains high. It is up to Azerbaijan to reactivate and accelerate the process,” he said.

It was agreed that Azerbaijan would submit updated information to the Working Party, highlighting developments since the circulation of the draft Report of the Working Party in 2021. This information will complement Azerbaijan's recently submitted revised goods offer, its revised Legislative Action Plan, and updated information on agriculture domestic support. Azerbaijan expressed interest in holding the 15th meeting of the Working Party before the summer break.

The WTO delegation also visited the Azerbaijan State University of Economics, meeting with the University's Rector, Professor Adalat Muradov. At the meeting, Mr Muradov announced that the university was poised to establish a WTO research centre.

Following the departure of the Working Party Chair, the Secretariat held a meeting with Mr Fariz Ismailzade, Vice Rector of ADA University, to discuss how the university could support Azerbaijan's objective to develop domestic expertise on international trade.

During the visit, the WTO Secretariat held a series of consultations with experts from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss outstanding issues identified in the Working Party Report and to explore the way forward.