H.E. the Governor of the General Authority of Foreign Trade, Mr. Abdulrahman bin Ahmed Al-Harbi, applauded the decision of their Excellencies the Ministers of Industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to approve the recommendation of the Standing Committee to Combat Harmful Practices of Trade, to impose final anti-dumping Law on the GCC imports of Fluting or Testliner paper and board, uncoated in rolls or sheets of cardboard paper, in order to curb the material damage to the local Gulf industry. H.E. added that some Gulf industries, like other markets of some member countries of the World Trade Organization, suffer from competition that is harmful to international trade, which aggravates the grave material damages to this industry as a result of the increase in foreign imports destined for the Gulf markets, requiring the unification of efforts to combat these practices through cooperation with the private sector and the concerned authorities, educating Gulf producers about their rights and building full-fledged complaints in light of what is guaranteed by the three World Trade Organization agreements (anti-dumping, compensatory measures, and preventive measures).
He stressed that activating these agreements to protect Saudi industries is among the priorities of the strategy of the newly established General Authority of Foreign Trade, which privileged with the interest and support of H.E. Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Investment and Chairman of the Authority's Board of Directors. The governor indicated that GAFT seeks to intensify work and cooperation with the private sector and production companies in the Kingdom in defending the interests of the Kingdom and Saudi producers, to push back the harmful practices in international trade that impede or limit its legitimate competition with increasingly incoming foreign products that hinder Saudi products’ competitiveness against these products. H.E. called on Saudi manufacturers who are suffering from the increase in harmful imports and competition to contact foreign trade at the Ministry of Trade and Investment, to provide assistance and technical support to the affected industries, by building full complaints, to request the opening of commercial investigations in light of the World Trade Organization agreements that guarantee the right of member countries to defend their interests and curb damages.