PAI

Chapter One: Trade Exchange

Article 1

A- Members states allow the import of agricultural, animal, industrial products and natural resources products of national origin, and allow the export of those products to other member states.
B- All agricultural, animal, industrial products and products of natural resources of national origin shall be treated as national products.

Article 2

1. All agricultural, animal, industrial products and products of natural resources of national origin shall be exempted from customs duties and any similar fees.
2. Any charges paid in return for specific service, such as flooring, storage, transportation, shipping or unloading charges, if such charges are imposed on national goods, it won’t be considered as fees.

Article 3

1. For industrial products to acquire the rank of national origin, their production added value in these countries must not be less than (40) percent of their final value upon completion of their production. It is also required that citizens member ownership percentage in the industrial facility producing it should not be less than 51 percent.
2. Every commodity that enjoys exemption under this agreement must be accompanied by a certificate of origin attested by the competent government authority.

Article 4

1. Member states shall work to establish a minimum standard customs tariff to be applied towards other counties outside GCC.
2. One of the objectives of unifying customs tariffs is to provide protection for national products from competing foreign products.
3. The unified customs tariff shall be applied gradually within five years from the date of enforcing this agreement, and gradual arrangements shall be agreed upon to achieve this within one year from the mentioned date.

Article 5

Member states shall grant all facilities for goods passage between GCC members by transit, and shall be exempted from all duties and taxes of any kind, without prejudicing statement mentioned in the second paragraph of Article Two.

Article 6

The transit of prohibited goods according to local regulations in any of the GCC member will be not allowed to enter the territory of any of the other member states, list of such goods will be exchanges among the customs authorities of the member states.

Article 7

Member states shall coordinate their policies and commercial relationship toward other countries, regional economic blocs and groupings in order to create equal terms & conditions in commercial dealings. To this end, Member States shall take the following measures:

1. Coordination of import / export policies and systems.
2. Coordination of the strategic food stock formation policies.
3. Concluding economic agreements jointly in cases where common benefits are achieved for the member states.
4. Work to create a collective negotiating force to support negotiating position with foreign parties in the field of importing their basic needs and exporting their main products.

Chapter Two: Movement of funds, individuals and the exercise of economic activity

Article 8

The member states agree on executive rules to ensure treating GCC similarly to their own citizens without differentiation or discrimination in the following areas:
1- Freedom of movement, employment, and residency.
2- The right of ownership, inheritance, and bequest.
3- Freedom to engage in economic activity.
4- Free movement of capital.

Article 9

Member states encourage their private sector to establish joint projects that leads to link economic interests of citizens in various fields.

Chapter Three: Development Coordination

Article 10

Member states work to achieve coordination and coherence between their development plans aiming to achieving economic integration among them.

Article 11

1- Member states work to coordinate their policies petroleum industry field in all stages process, including extraction, refining, marketing, manufacturing, pricing and exploitation of natural gas and development of energy sources.
2- Member states work on setting unified oil policies and taking common positions towards the outside world and in international and specialized organizations.

Article 12

To achieve objectives stipulated in this Agreement, the Member States shall:
1- Coordination of industrial activity, setting policies and means leading to industrial development and diversification of the production base on integration basis.
2- Unifying industrial legislation and regulations, increasing direction of local production system to meet their needs.
3- Distributing industry among them according to relative advantages and economic feasibility, encouraging the establishment of basic and supplementary industries among them.

Article 13

Within the coordinating operations framework, member states give special importance of establishing, supporting joint projects among them in fields of industry, agriculture, services done with public, private or mixed capital to achieve economic integration, productive interlinking and joint development on accurate economic foundations.

Chapter Four: Technical Cooperation

Article 14

Member states shall cooperate in inventing areas of joint technical cooperation aiming to acquiring an authentic self-base founded on supporting and encouraging research, applicable and technological sciences, and working on the adaptation of imported technology in accordance with nature of the region's needs, advancement, and development objectives.

Article 15

Member states work on preparing regulations, arrangements and conditions for technology transfer, selecting the most appropriate ones or modifying them to suit their different needs.

Member states - whenever possible - conclude unified agreements to achieve above purposes with governments or foreign scientific institution or foreign commercial institutions.

Article 16

Member states shall set policies and implement coordinated programs for technical, vocational and craft training and qualification at all grades and stages, also develop education curricula at all levels to link education and technology with the development needs of member states.

Article 17

Member states work to coordinate among themselves in manpower field, setting unified standards and classifications for various categories of professions and crafts in different sectors, to avoid harmful competition among them and to achieve maximum benefit from available human resources.

Chapter Five: Transport and Communications

Article 18

Member States shall treat all transporting passengers and goods belonging to GCC citizens passing through their territories or entering any of them similar to transporting passengers and goods owned by their citizens, including exemption from all fees and taxes of any kind, provided that this does not include the use of internal transport.

Article 19

1- Member states cooperate in land, sea transport and communications fields - and work to coordinate and establish infrastructure projects, such as ports, airports, water and electricity stations, and roads to achieve joint economic development and interdependence of economic activities.
2- Contracting States shall work to coordinate aviation and air transport policies between them, and developing areas of joint work at various levels.

Article 20

Member States allow ships, boats & their cargo, owned by any of them, to freely use the various facilities of their seaports, and grant them equal treatment and preferences granted to their national counterparts, whether when docking at or passing through their ports, including fees, loading, unloading, surface loading, maintenance, repair, storage of goods and other similar services.

Chapter Six Financial and Monetary Cooperation

Article 21

Member states seek to unify systems and laws related to investment, to reach a common investment policy aiming to direction their internal and external investments, in a manner that serves their interests and the ambitions of their people in development and progress.

Article 22

Member states shall coordinate their financial, monetary and banking policies and increase cooperation between monetary institutions and central banks, including unify the currency to be complementary to the desired economic integration among them.

Article 23

Member states work to coordinate their external policies, in field of providing international and regional aid for development.

Chapter Seven: Final Provisions

Article 24

In applying the agreement and deciding the measures emanating from it, the disparity in levels of growth among the member states and local development priorities shall be taken into consideration.

Temporary exemption from applying some agreement provisions can be granted to any of the GCC countries in cases of necessity due to temporary local circumstances they may face. The exemption shall be for a limited period, and by a decision of the Highest Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

Article 25

A Member State may not grant any preferential advantage to another non Member State higher than advantages granted in this Agreement.

Article 26

a) This agreement shall become effective four months after the approval of the Highest Council.
b) This agreement may be amended with the approval of the Highest Council.

Article 27

Priority in applying the provisions of this agreement in case of conflict with local laws and regulations will be given to member states.

Article 28

The provisions of this Agreement supersede the similar provisions of the bilateral agreements. Signed in Riyadh City (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) on 15/1/1402 AH corresponding to 11/11/1981 AD.

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G.C.C. Economic Agreement 1981