* Talks to be held in Berne on March 9-10
* Border runs along Russia-backed rebel territory
* WTO member Georgia has veto power over new entrants
By Margarita Antidze
TBILISI, March 7 (Reuters) - Georgia and Russia will resume talks this week over Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organisation with Tbilisi insisting on a deal over customs controls on their internationally recognised border.
The initiative to meet came from the Russian side, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nikoloz Vashakidze told reporters on Monday.
"Russia officially initiated negotiations... The Georgian side was always stating its readiness for negotiations," Vashakidze said, adding that talks will be held on March 9-10 in the Swiss capital, Bern.
He gave no details, while Russia's chief negotiator Maxim Medvedkov declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
Georgia ceased WTO talks with Russia in April 2008 after the Kremlin ordered the lifting of economic sanctions against the breakaway Georgian regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are backed by Moscow.
The two countries subsequently fought a brief war that year in which Russian troops repelled an attempt by Georgia to recapture South Ossetia by force.
The European Union formally backed Russia's 17-year-long bid for membership of the WTO last December, bringing it closer to reality in 2011. But Georgia holds an effective veto.
Georgia says it is insisting on "transparency" on its border with Russia, parts of which lie outside Tbilisi's control in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"Our main demand is the same -- transparency of trade between member countries of the WTO," Georgian member of parliament Akaky Minashvili told reporters.
"We want to monitor movements of cargoes on the Abkhaz and South Ossetian sections of our border. Who will be fulfilling this monitor is a subject of negotiations," he said.
He did not rule out posting Georgian customs officials on the border, a move Russia is unlikely to support.
Only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and the tiny Pacific island of Nauru recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states with their own borders.
The rest of the world says they are part of Georgia, but Tbilisi lost its remaining footholds in the rebel territories in 2008 when Russia crushed a Georgian military assault on South Ossetia, launched after fatal skirmishes with separatists.
Georgia is already a member of the organisation, which umpires global trade. Under WTO consensus rules, all 153 member states have the right to veto Russia's accession bid.
Some experts say that Russia's WTO bid will be one of the issues during the U.S. vice-president Joe Biden's visit to Russia this week.
(Writing by Margarita Antidze; additional reporting by Gleb Bryanski in Moscow; editing by Paul Taylor)