On Tuesday, Minister of Trade Athir Dawood Salman headed the negotiating team for Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, while indicating that Iraq would proceed with its accession to the global organization.

The Ministry of Trade said in a statement, seen by “Economy News”, that “Minister of Trade Athir Dawood Salman arrived in Geneva today, Tuesday, at the head of the Iraqi negotiating team for Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization to attend the third meeting of the working group for Iraq’s accession, 16 years after the second meeting was held.”

It added that “Iraq is proceeding, through the national committee concerned with its accession to the World Organization, which is headed by the Minister of Trade, to complete its procedures to complete the required files and support reforms and legislation to be in line with the market system and enhance the country’s economic capabilities to complete the requirements of the next stage of the accession process

Explaining that “the preparatory meetings of the Iraqi negotiating team are continuing at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, in preparation for the third meeting of the working group for Iraq’s accession, which will be held this week  link

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KTFA:

Clare:  Iraq Resumes WTO Accession Talks After 16-Year Hiatus

16th July 2024 By John Lee.

Iraqi Trade Minister Athir Dawood Al-Ghurairi announced the resumption of preliminary meetings for Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) after a 16-year pause.

The Iraqi negotiation teams have started preparatory meetings at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, preparing for the third working group meeting on Iraq’s accession.

According to a statement from the Ministry’s media office, Riyad Fakher Al-Hashemi, Director General of the Foreign Economic Relations Department, indicated that the first preparatory meeting was held with the WTO’s Accession Section Director and experts in goods, services, and intellectual property.

This meeting, chaired by Al-Hashemi and including negotiators from various Iraqi ministries and the Kurdistan Region, discussed key files and documents previously submitted by Iraq.

The third official working group meeting, to be led by the Trade Minister representing Iraq, will review the completed files and documents prepared by the national committee responsible for the accession. This marks a significant step as the Iraqi negotiation team reaches a high level of expertise in dealing with complex issues related to WTO membership.

(Source: Ministry of Trade)   LINK

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Clare:  Third round of negotiations for Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization

7/16/2024

Minister of Trade Athir Dawood Salman arrived today, Tuesday, in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, at the head of the Iraqi team negotiating Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization to attend the third meeting of the working group on Iraq’s accession, 16 years after the second meeting was held

The statement of the Ministry’s media office, a copy of which was received by {Euphrates News}, indicated that “Iraq is proceeding, through the national committee concerned with its accession to the World Organization, which is headed by the Minister of Trade, to complete its procedures to accomplish the required files and support reforms and legislation to be in line with the market system and enhance the country’s economic capabilities to complete the requirements of the next stage of the accession process.”

The statement noted that “the preparatory meetings of the Iraqi negotiating team are continuing at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, in preparation for the third meeting of the working group on Iraq’s accession, which will be held this week.” LINK