Technical support to Iraq’s WTO membership process: UNCTAD to undertake a second round of Services regulatory mapping
Following up on the first advisory meeting on the regulatory audit of selected services sectors in Iraq, UNCTAD is due to undertake on 11-14 November a second workshop, in the city of Erbil, northern Iraq, to assist Iraqi officials in the review and analysis of the legislative and regulatory measures governing insurance, higher education, and postal services. In addition, legislative and regulatory frameworks and practices related to foreign companies’ establishment(registration) and investment, as well as labour conditions (for foreigners) will be examined.
During the first edition of this exercise, held also in Erbil on 21-24 August 2023, four services sectors were covered, namely: Financial (banking services), Transport, Tourism and Education (primary and secondary education services).
The regulatory mapping of laws, rules and regulations would help the government of Iraq, not only to develop and maintain an inventory of laws and regulations that apply to business’s rights and obligations in the services sectors, but also to guide the Iraqi authorities in shaping the trade policy and procedures in the area of services by having a better reading and assessment of the regulatory landscape so as to capture baseline obligations across jurisdictions to avert any potential overlaps among the services sectors’ regulations.
Considering Iraq’s ongoing preparation for WTO accession, the objective of this regulatory mapping is to provide the government with the necessary technical support for the formulation of the terms of competition on market access and national treatment conditions for foreign services providers operating in Iraq. Hence, it would enable Iraqi negotiators to define, on an informed basis, the country’s WTO membership negotiations’ strategy, including the outlining of its specific commitments under GATS.
Ultimately this audit will also facilitate the coordination, development and implementation of any regulatory changes that would be made necessary as part of the WTO accession’s negotiations and obligations in the post accession phase.
