US-Russia WTO deal seen within reach

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) Russia appears close to a long-sought deal with the United States to join the World Trade Organization, but the countries may miss their goal of finishing this month, US business officials said today.

''We're pretty confident that a good agreement is within reach, but whether it's October 31 or November 7 really will not change the world,'' said Gary Litman, vice president for Europe at the US Chamber of Commerce.

Russia has wanted to join the WTO for 13 years. It first must strike a bilateral deal with any member state that wants one and an overall pact with the full 149-member group to bring its trade rules and regulations into line with WTO norms.

The United States is the last major economy still negotiating a market-access deal with Russia.

After the two countries missed a high-profile opportunity for a deal before the July G8 summit in St. Petersburg, U.S.

President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin set a goal to wrap up talks by the end of October.

With that deadline less than one week away, a team led by Russia's chief WTO negotiator Maxim Medvedkov is in Washington to resolve a handful of tough issues affecting meat trade, financial services and protection for U.S. movies, music, software and other copyrighted or patented goods.

'SUBSTANCE, NOT THE CALENDAR' ''From what we glean, it sounds like there is good momentum'' in the talks, said Blake Marshall, executive vice president of the U.S.-Russia Business Council.

If the two countries do not announce a deal next week, they may do it when Bush and Putin attend the annual APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit meeting in Hanoi the weekend of Nov. 18-19, Marshall said.

Although Washington wants a deal soon, ''substance, not the calendar, (will) dictate when we finish,'' said Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed Russia's attempt to join the WTO during her meetings last weekend with Russia's president and ministers.

''We are making positive progress on WTO. There are still issues to be worked out, but I would hope that we can see progress there,'' she told reporters traveling with her to Moscow.

One of the final sticking points is Russian food safety rules that the United States says are based on dubious science to unfairly restrict U.S. meat imports.

The United States also wants Russia to strengthen its enforcement of copyright and patent laws, with particular attention to the Web site www.allofmp3.com. U.S. trade officials say it is one of the world's most notorious markets for pirated music sales.

Another remaining issue has to do with U.S. financial services companies seeking to open branch offices within Russia. They also want Moscow to phase out caps on foreign investment in the banking and insurance sector.

Reuters DKS VP0227