APEC adopts list of green goods for tariff reduction

VLADIVOSTOK - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hailed the approval of 54 items of environment-friendly goods for tariff reduction by leaders and representatives from 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

"The same procedure has taken the World Trade Organization over 10 years without a result, while it took the APEC just several months to come up with the list," Putin told reporters after the two-day APEC economic leaders' meeting.

The Russian president admitted that it was not easy to come up with the list, without giving details of the goods.

APEC foreign and commerce ministers worked hard in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok to sort out the 54 items of goods. On the first day of their discussion, they only managed to present a list of 25 items.

On Thursday, Russian Economy Minister Andrey Belousov said the approved items are not green goods themselves but rather goods which are conducive to environmental protection.

The listed goods will get a tariff reduction to the level of 5 percent by 2015, according to Belousov.