The Minister of Trade, head of the Iraqi team concerned with joining the World Trade Organization, Athir Al-Ghariri, announced today, Monday, the resumption of negotiations to join the World Trade Organization, after a hiatus that lasted more than 16 years. A statement by the Ministry quoted the Director General of the Department of Foreign Economic Relations, Riyadh Fakher Al-Hashemi, as saying: "The Iraqi negotiating teams have begun their preparatory meetings at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, in preparation for the third meeting of the working group for Iraq's accession." Al-Hashemi added that "the first preparatory meeting was held at the organization's headquarters with the Director of the Accession Department and the organization's experts in goods, services and intellectual property, headed by the Director General of the Department of Economic Relations and the membership of negotiators representing the Iraqi ministries and the Kurdistan Region; to discuss the most import ant files and documents submitted by Iraq in the previous stage." He pointed out that "the third official meeting of the working group, which will be chaired by the Minister of Trade as a representative of Iraq, will witness a review of the files and documents completed by the National Committee concerned with accession." He continued, "This is the first time that the Iraqi negotiating team has reached this level of experience in the field of negotiation, which reflects the development of their capabilities and efficiency in dealing with complex issues related to WTO membership." Source: National Iraqi News Agency