Riyadh: Further discussions between GCC members will be held to find a solution to the free trade issue that has caused concerns, Saudi Arabia said yesterday.
The Saudis objected to the Bahrain-US Free Trade Agreement signed in mid-September, claiming that it abolished external tariffs and gave Washington trade advantages over Bahrain’s fellow GCC members, which had agreed to fix custom tariffs at five per cent.
They said that their objection was not out of spite but from a desire to protect the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
“It’s wrong to see the case as personal,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal told reporters, referring to the row which cast a pall over this week’s GCC summit. “We didn’t do this out of selfishness, but out of concern for the council’s integrity.”
Analysts say Saudi Arabia, the biggest but least liberalised Gulf Arab economy, fears US goods imported tariff-free into Bahrain will be re-sold within its borders.
“Signing a free trade pact with a group outside the union is in violation of the (original) agreement,” Prince Saud said.
Bahrain has maintained that it had not violated any GCC agreements and that it had every right to sign the deal. The other four countries in the alliance agree with Bahrain, and the UAE and Oman will start their FTA negotiations with the US next year. Saudi Arabia is the only GCC state that is not a member of the World Trade Organisation. – Agencies
Last update on: 23-12-2004