City Helps Lawyers in Russia Prepare for the World Trade Organisation

PRLog (Press Release) - Jul. 12, 2012 - David will be based at the Pericles American Business and Legal Education project throughout July as Russia prepares to join the WTO following eighteen years of negotiation.

"Complying with the WTO's many regulations will be an enormous task for Russian lawyers", explains David. "They will require some quite foundational instruction in the basic principles of WTO law. Moscow law firms will need to establish an expertise in this area fairly quickly in order to represent the interests of Russian business and the country's citizens".

Russia is the largest country in the world not in the World Trade Organisation and the last member of the Group of 20 large economy states to join. Membership could add tens of billions of pounds to the Russian economy which possesses an enormous market for goods and services. EU countries are also likely to benefit from improved trading conditions, including lower energy costs. David says that the benefits of being accepted into the WTO are likely to be far reaching:

"Fulfilling WTO regulations should help improve internal governance within Russia, especially in the area of IP protection. As Russian suppliers will need to compete globally, the economy will become more efficient, with resources allocated to the most competitive industries and away from ones that are more efficiently produced abroad. Although the WTO does not deal with investment comprehensively, improvements in governance and transparency as a consequence of WTO rules should help ensure that Russia is no longer seen as a high risk destination for foreign investors."

David has also been invited to address the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow during his trip. He will use the remainder of his time to research a monograph entitled, The BRIC States and Outward Foreign Direct Investment, to be published by Oxford University Press, which explores the international regulation of foreign investment from Russia and other emerging markets.

David Collins teaches and researches in the field of international economic law specializing in the law of the World Trade Organization and international investment law.  At The City Law School (http://www.city.ac.uk/law), David teaches International Economic Law and Contract Law on the LLB (http://www.city.ac.uk/law/courses/undergraduate) and Graduate Entry LLB, and World Trade Law and International Investment Law on the LLM in International Commercial Law.

City University London is based in the heart of London, both our Undergraduate (http://www.city.ac.uk/study/undergraduate) and Postgraduate courses fit the changing professional needs of globalised business.