The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Bahrain and Arab Republic of Egypt yesterday informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) of the legality of severing diplomatic and consulate ties with Qatar, based on the practice of their sovereign rights guaranteed by the international law and protection of their national security. The Ministry of Commerce and Investment said that this came on sidelines of the meeting of WTO's Goods Trade Council which was held in the Swiss city of Geneva regarding the conformity of the decisions taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt with WTO's systems. In a joint statement which was read in the meeting, the four countries confirmed that all measures taken do conform with the international systems which legally give the member countries room to move against any country who dares to harm their security and stability, a sovereign right conforming with Article 21 of the General Agreement of trade in goods. The article indicates that in case of emergency in international relations, the agreement obligations allow the member countries to take the measures they consider as necessary to protect their interests and national security. Article 14 of the Services Agreement and Article 73 of the Intellectual Property Agreement, which were signed by the member countries, also guarantee all sovereign rights for the countries to take any procedure to protect their national security and stability against whatever violations they might be subject to.
