WTO Approves UAE Complaint about Qatar on Restricting Goods

The World Trade Organization (WTO) approved UAE’s complaint made on Wednesday about Qatari restrictions on the import, distribution, and sales of UAE goods.

The UAE has stressed that the Qatari ban on Emirati products is a flagrant violation of WTO rules and with its obligations towards the global trade body. The country said it was looking forward to working with the WTO arbitrators and contesting Qatar’s unilateral decision to ban UAE products.

The ban came in the wake of severing diplomatic relations with Qatar by the Arab Quartet due to the former’s support for terrorist and extremist outfits.

Qatar partially withdrew the measures against UAE products just before the last session of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on April 27 this year, but the UAE contends that the previous decision of Qatar, as well as some current measures, went against its obligations to WTO.

The UAE believes that the Qatari measures violated the WTO’s basic principles of market access and its rules against discrimination. The Qatari measures aimed to target the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, which opposed Qatar’s patronage for terrorism and extremism, dissemination of hate speech, and interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

The UAE believes that the Qatari measures violated Article 23 of the WTO’s rules for dispute settlement procedures, which prescribes unilateral retaliatory measures such as the ones that Qatar has taken.

Qatar is indulging in gross duplicity in its efforts to use international bodies for its own ulterior motives. It should instead stop its dangerous policies with respect to its neighbors and desist from supporting and funding extremism and terrorism, thereby honoring its commitments in accordance with the Riyadh Agreement that it had signed.