By Manal Abdel Fattah
The economic sector organized the (15th) meeting of the committee of legal experts concerned with developing the dispute settlement regulations within the framework of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, in implementation of the decisions of the Economic and Social Council, which directed the need for the committee to quickly complete the update of the dispute settlement mechanism as soon as possible, during the period 22-24. January 2024 at the General Secretariat headquarters.
The Committee updates the regulations for settling commercial disputes within the framework of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, which was approved by Economic and Social Council Resolution No. 1317 – Let. 59 dated 2/19/1997, and in particular what was stipulated in the sixth regarding the settlement of disputes, “In line with Article Thirteen of the Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Trade Exchange between Arab Countries, the Committee shall have jurisdiction over all issues related to the application of the Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Trade Exchange among Arab Countries, as well as any Disagreement over the application of this program, to keep pace with developments in global trade, mainly in the multilateral trading system in this regard. This regulation is also concerned with dealing with all disputes arising from the application of the Agreement on Facilitation and Development of Trade Exchange and its executive program.
In this regard, the meeting has before it a single item concerned with reviewing the pending articles of the dispute settlement mechanism within the framework of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, where the member states’ comments on the draft regulations will be discussed. Discussion of the article on the costs of the Appeals Body has previously been suspended, and the terms will be agreed upon. The time period contained in the regulation, and the article regarding the entry into force of the regulation, and the articles of the regulation will be rearranged according to the need for them.
