RIYADH — The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources emphasized that it is working to protect national industries from unfair competition. The ministry will enact regulations that contribute to empower and enhance the competitiveness of national industries in a manner that does not contradict the Kingdom's obligations due to its accession to the World Trade Organization as well as the Gulf and international conventions. The ministry said in a statement that it is working to create a fair and competitive environment that attracts industrial investments by implementing several tools in cooperation and coordination with various government agencies. "The unfair competition is represented in several aspects, the most important of which are flooding the local markets with goods at lower prices than in the country of origin; unjustified increase in imports; the subsidies allocated by the governments of the countries that are exporting to the Kingdom; the lack of conformity with the specifications and standards, in addition to the violation of standards and provisions of the Competition Law and some local regulations," the ministry said. It added that it is working through committees and teams to activate the appropriate protection tools, which fall within the powers and responsibilities of each and every agencies. This is in coordination with the relevant government agencies, such as the General Authority for Foreign Trade, the Saudi Organization for Standardization and Metrology, the General Authority for Customs, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, and other concerned government agencies. The ministry pointed out that the tools to protect against unfair competition are the application of technical regulations and standard specifications for a number of affected industries, raising the customs tariff for a number of goods to the customs ceilings that are bound by the World Trade Organization, and applying the principle of reciprocity to the Kingdom's imports from countries that impose measures or precautionary measures against the Kingdom's exports, in addition to the application of import licenses. The ministry emphasized that it is in the process of implementing other protection tools, in coordination with the concerned government agencies, to protect the national industry from harmful practices and to activate other measures that would contribute to encouraging national industries.
