WTO to probe UAE’s complaint about Qatar’s ban on Emirati products

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has agreed to look into the UAE’s complaint that Qatar has banned Emirati products.

The WTO has decided to constitute an arbitration committee to investigate the UAE’s complaint, the UAE’s official news agency WAM reported.

The UAE stressed that the Qatari ban on Emirati products is a “flagrant violation of WTO rules” and is at odds with its obligations towards the global trade body.

The ban came after the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt severed all diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.

Qatar partially withdrew the measures against UAE products just before the last session of the WTO’s dispute settlement body, DSB, on April 27, but the UAE contends that the previous decision of Qatar as well as some current measures went against its obligations to WTO, the WAM report said.

The UAE alleged that the ban on Emirati products by Qatar violated Article 23 of the WTO’s rules for dispute settlement procedures, which proscribes unilateral retaliatory measures such as the ones that Qatar has taken.

“The UAE believes that the Qatari measures violated the WTO’s basic principles of market access and its rules against discrimination,” it added.