Egypt brings views closer in WTO discussions

The commercial representation office at Egypt's permanent mission in Geneva has succeeded in bringing the views of developing and developed countries closer during discussions at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), officials at the organisation have said, aiming at ensuring transparency in foreign trade policies and regulations of member states.

Recent discussions took up a proposal submitted by Switzerland and a number of states in order to enhance the transparency of the practices of member states regarding their commitments to non-preferential rules of origin.

In a WTO statement on Sunday, the apparatus said that Egypt has exerted efforts to bring closer the views of the countries that submitted the suggestion and those having reservations regarding it.

Egypt has suggested linking increasing transparency and enhancing technical assistance received by developing countries in order to help them implement the proposal, the statement read.

Rules of origin are needed to attribute one country of origin to each product. They are the criteria used to define where a product was made and are important for implementing other trade policy measures, including trade preferences, quotas, anti-dumping measures and countervailing duties.