The Arab Customs Union is a

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

announced at the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

's 2009 Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

in order to achieve a functional customs union by 2015 and an Arab common market by 2020 and to increase inter-Arab trade and integration. The announcement was made by the head of the Arab Customs Union Committee,

Saud Al Jefeiri The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), and ...

, who recently presided over a two-day meeting of the committee at the Arab League headquarters in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. Participants in the meeting discussed the customs union plan and the structure of the customs union and reviewed the legal structure and regulations for the union. The union will lead to the establishment of an Arab common market. Al Jefeiri, who represented

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

at the meeting, said most

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

member countries agreed to put forward an implementing plan,

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

asked for an independent accord to govern the customs union. The Arab customs union resolution contains 17 chapters and 179 articles regulating economic and trade relationship between Arab countries, and aims to boost trade and investment among member states * Economic and Social Council (Arab League) *

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ( ar, مجلس التعاون لدول العربية الخليج ), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ar, مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, inter ...

* Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) *

Federation of Arab Trade Unions and Labor Societies FATULS, the Federation of Arab Trade Unions and Labor Societies (''Ittihad al-Niqabat wa'l-Jam'iyyat al-'Arabiyya'', ar, اتحاد النقابات والجمعيات العربية, later known as the Arab Workers' Congress) was an Arab trade un ...

References

Leaders set to approve Arab customs unionGAFTA
on the bilaterals.org {{Trade Arab League Economy of the Arab League Customs unions