Daijiworld Media Network – Doha

Doha, Apr 27: During WTO’s session of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to assess Qatari efforts to ban UAE consumer goods and services, Qatar announced on Saturday that it had withdrawn the measures they had taken against the UAE goods and services.

The WTO session took place following UAE’s request to set up an arbitration committee to assess Qatari efforts to ban UAE consumer goods and services.

As per Khaleej Times, Abdullah Hamdan Al Naqbi, Director of the International Law Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, stated that Qatar's confession of its previous violations one day before the UAE request was heard.

''We continue to seek Qatar's full withdrawal of these measures so as to ensure Doha's commitment to its WTO obligations and ensure our exports of goods has free access to Qatar markets'' he underscored.

He added, ''We see today that Qatar approach, which placed it on the defensive, did not count and think of the damage that will come back from this trend.''

The Qatari climb-down recognises that Doha's policies had violated its international obligations. However, the partial concession doesn't not resolve some of the fundamental issues of the dispute, and the UAE continues to explore its legal options to ensure that Qatar abides by its WTO obligations.