GCC's WTO cmte urges compliance with food safety guidelines

The GCC committee on World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded on Sunday its 38th meeting with calling on the GCC states to implement the recommendations of the technical committee on the safety of imported foodstuffs.
The two-day meeting urged revising the GCC national customs regulations in keeping with the WTO trade-weighted average tariff rate after the enforcement of the GCC customs union, according to a statement by the Qatari Ministry of Economy and Commerce.
It also called for developing the draft agenda of GCC's WTO committee for 2015 and coordinating the GCC trade policies by 2017 pursuant to the provisions of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and in collaboration with Qatari ministry in its capacity as chair of the current session of the committee.
The meeting was part of the efforts of the GCC states to amend their trade policies in tune with the WTO regulations with a view to advancing the Doha Development Round (DDA), the statement pointed out.
The Qatari delegation raised a suggestion on a single GCC system on food imports based on the WTO regulations, particularly the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, it added.
The meeting followed the 35th session of the GCC Supreme Council in Doha in last December which urged accelerating steps towards GCC economic integration and customs union.