U.S. and Saudi Arabia Complete Negotiations on WTO Accession
The U.S. and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have concluded bilateral negotiations on issues related to Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the agreement, Saudi Arabia pledged not to enforce the Arab boycott against U.S. companies that maintain trade relations with Israel (the secondary and tertiary aspects of the Arab boycott of Israel). In addition, Saudi Arabia agreed not to invoke the non-application provision of the WTO Agreement and thus will have WTO relations with all WTO members, including Israel.
Saudi Arabia has been negotiating the terms of its accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and then to the WTO, since 1993. The U.S. is the last WTO member formally to conclude a bilateral market access agreement with Saudi Arabia. The agreement with the U.S. and those Saudi Arabia concluded with other WTO members will be consolidated in a package that must be approved formally by WTO members and accepted by the government of Saudi Arabia.
A summary of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia agreement prepared by USTR can be found at the following link:
www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Fact_Sheets/2005/
asset_upload_file762_7935.pdf.
Labels: Boycotts
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
