The United Arab Emirates has filed a complaint against Qatar at the World Trade Organization saying Doha has imposed a ban on Emirati products, UAE state news agency WAM said on Tuesday.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt have imposed a diplomatic, trade and transport boycott of Qatar since June 2017 over allegations Doha supports terrorism, a charge Qatar denies.
A statement from WAM said Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health has stopped pharmacies from selling medicines and other products coming from the four countries, and has removed the names of UAE companies from the list of approved vendors for infrastructure projects.
The statement said that “the measures taken by Qatar are a flagrant violation of WTO rules. Qatar took this action after its commencement to settle disputes against the UAE through the WTO in August 2017, which is still an ongoing case. However, rather than respecting the WTO to rule on its complaint, Qatar has instead decided to impose unilateral retaliatory measures, violating the very same rules it claims the UAE is violating.”
Qatar filed in July 2017 a wide-ranging legal complaint at the WTO to challenge the trade boycott by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The case is still ongoing.
“The UAE’s action comes after the Qatari ministry of economy banned the sale of consumer goods manufactured in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt,” WAM reported.
The report did not state when the complaint was filed.
Qatari officials were not immediately available for comment on the complaint.
Qatar banned products originating from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain in May 2018.
