Russia has been trying to join the World Trade Organization since 1993. Now Russian officials are saying they hope to become a member by the end of this year.
俄罗斯方面自从1993年起，就一直想要加入世界贸易组织。如今，俄罗斯官员说，希望能够在今年年底以前正式成为世贸组织成员。
The 153-member World Trade Organization (WTO) is the agency overseeing the rules of international trade. It was founded in 1995, replacing an organization known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
世贸组织目前有153个成员国，世贸组织负责监管国际贸易法规的实施。现今的世贸组织是1995年成立的，它的前身是GATT --General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade --关税和贸易总协定。
Experts say to become a WTO member is a complex procedure. First, a country has to accept a whole series of agreements. They include a ceiling on tariff levels governments can impose on various imported goods and another dealing with the protection of intellectual property. In addition to accepting all the WTO rules, a country then has to settle bilateral trade agreements with all the countries that so desire. And finally, a country has to change many of its economic and trade laws to make them conform to international standards.
专家们说，申请成为世贸组织成员的过程是相当复杂的。首先，一个国家必须要接受整套的既定协议和法规，这其中包括政府能够给予各种进口物资设置的关税有固定的上限，另外还有保护知识产权的法规，等等。除了要接受世贸组织所有这些法规之外，想要申请加入世贸组织的国家还必须解决和所有国家之间的双边贸易纠纷，除非对方国家不想解决和申请国之间的贸易纠纷。最后，申请加入世贸组织的国家还必须对本国的经济和贸易法规进行调整，适应国际准则。
The last country to join the Geneva-based WTO was Ukraine in 2008. Russia has been negotiating for 18 years.
世贸组织的最新成员国是乌克兰，它在2008年加入了世贸。俄罗斯已经为世贸一事，同各方协商了18年之久。
David Christy, a lawyer [with the firm Thompson Hine] and trade expert who has helped governments with their WTO bids, says a country that wants to join and is serious in meeting WTO requirements can become a member within three to four years.
大卫·克里斯帝是一位律师和贸易问题专家，他曾经帮助过不只一个国家申请加入世贸组织。克里斯帝说，一个国家如真想加入世贸组织、而且确实努力达到世贸组织的各项规定的话，一般只要三、四年的时间，就可以申请成功。
"When a country like Russia or China joins, it generally takes longer because the economy is so much more complex, but also because they are negotiating hard to minimize the obligations that they will be forced to undertake," said Christy. "And Russia was willing to put off its accession in order to ensure that the package of obligations it eventually accepts is as light as possible. And in that regard, kudos to them and their negotiators - I think they have done an excellent job. They have an exceedingly forceful negotiating style that tends to wear down other delegations. And so they are willing to keep the negotiating process going for year, after year, after year," Christy added.
他说：“像俄罗斯或者是中国这样的国家要加入世贸组织的话，一般会需要比较长的时间，因为这类国家的经济架构和内涵，比起一般国家来说，要复杂得多，同时也因为这些国家本身申请加入世贸期间，在谈判过程中，也非常下功夫，尽量减少不得不履行的责任。俄罗斯方面为了要保障它最后必须要履行的整套责任越少越好，宁愿推迟加入世贸组织。从这个意义上讲，不得不说俄罗斯方面和他们的那些负责谈判的人员做得不错。在我看来，他们做得非常出色。”克里斯帝是这样形容俄罗斯的谈判方式的：“他们的谈判方式可以说是非常有说服力，一般都会把其他谈判方谈垮，他们也很有耐心，不惜年复一年地谈下去。”
Anders Aslund, a Russia expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is a forceful advocate of Russia's WTO accession.
安德斯·阿斯兰德是美国彼得森国际经济研究所的一位俄罗斯问题专家。他说，俄罗斯总统梅德韦杰夫在俄罗斯加入世贸问题上，一直非常努力。
"He has been pushing it and substantial progress has been made in the last two years," said Aslund. "And the other period when there was substantial progress was the years 2000 to 2003 - President [Vladimir] Putin's first term. But in between, say between 2003 and 2010, very little progress was made."
阿斯兰德说：“梅德韦杰夫一直在推动这件事，而且过去两年中，也确实取得了一些实质性的进展。另外，从2000年到2003年普京首次出任总统期间，也取得了一些实质性的进展。但是在2003到2010年期间，基本上没有任何进展。”
Experts say one major obstacle remains to Russia's WTO membership and that is Georgia's opposition to it. Under WTO rules, any member can block a new country from joining simply by vetoing it, because the organization operates by consensus.
专家们表示，俄罗斯加入世贸组织的一个主要障碍，是格鲁吉亚方面对此持有的反对意见。根据世贸组织的规定，任何一个成员国都可以行使否决权，不让新申请的国家“入世”，因为世贸组织的运作规则，是依靠所有成员国的认同。
Georgia has always strongly opposed Russia's support for the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Moscow and Tbilisi fought a brief war over them in 2008. Russia now considers the two independent states, a status not accepted by the international community.
格鲁吉亚一直反对俄罗斯支持从格鲁吉亚分离出去的阿布哈兹和南奥赛梯，格鲁吉亚和俄罗斯之间还在2008年就上述两个地区的问题，发动了短暂的战争。俄罗斯现在承认阿布哈兹和南奥赛梯是两个独立的国家，但是其他国家都没有承认这一点。
Anders Aslund says Georgia's opposition to Moscow's bid has to do with customs procedures between Russia and the two separatist regions.
彼得森国际经济研究所的阿斯兰德说，格鲁吉亚反对俄罗斯入世，与俄罗斯和上述两个地区之间的关税协议有关。
"What the Georgians are demanding is that there is some kind of multilateral control over trade flows through these two territories, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. And Russia has resisted it," Aslund noted.
阿斯兰德说：“格鲁吉亚现在要求的，是在有关阿布哈兹和南奥赛第两个区域的贸易问题上，能够有某种多边形式的控制。而俄罗斯方面一直抵制这一点。”
David Christy says the real issue is that Russia is treating the breakaway regions as being completely separate from Georgia - which is strongly opposed by Tbilisi.
从事法律和贸易事务的克里斯帝说，真正的问题在于俄罗斯将这两个分离出去的地区当作完全独立于格鲁吉亚的国家来对待，而这一点，是格鲁吉亚不能接受的。
"So that trade, in Russia's view, would be flowing from Russia through South Ossetia [and Abkhazia] and then into Georgia," said Christy. "Whereas from Georgia's view, as soon as it crosses out of Russia, it's in Georgia as a matter of international law, even if Georgia doesn't fully control that territory."
克里斯帝说：“从俄罗斯的角度讲，贸易往来可以始自俄罗斯，经由阿布哈兹和南奥赛第，再到格鲁吉亚。但是，从格鲁吉亚的角度来讲，根据国际法，所有的贸易一旦出了俄罗斯，就进入了格鲁吉亚境内，尽管格鲁吉亚方面目前并没有对两个地区的进行全面管辖。”
The United States has backed Russia's entry into the WTO while at the same time saying it will not pressure Georgia to change its view. Experts are divided as to whether Russia will be able to resolve its differences with Georgia by the December 15-17 WTO ministerial meeting in Geneva.
美国一直表示支持俄罗斯加入世贸组织，但是同时表示，不会给格鲁吉亚施加压力，迫使它改变立场。俄罗斯能否在今年12月份世贸组织部长级会议在日内瓦召开之前，解决和格鲁吉亚之间的分歧，专家们目前也意见不一。 |