Obstacles that prevent the growth of inter-Arab trade.
It should be noted the number of obstacles that prevent the growth of inter-Arab trade, including: -
First, technical hurdles have not been addressed yet
A - the detailed rules of origin for Arab goods on a preferential basis: Approved the general provisions of the detailed rules of origin and the detailed rules of origin for a range of agricultural commodities, at the beginning of 2006. Not yet completed the detailed rules of origin for the rest of agricultural commodities and industrial goods.
B - the application of gradual reduction on the fees and taxes of equivalent effect are still many Arab countries impose duties and taxes on import of goods exchanged in the framework of the Arab Free Trade Area, and shall take such fees, taxes and various names are not identical between the Arab countries.
C - Remove non-tariff restrictions, tariffs and non tariff: almost all Arab member states in the region are applying under one or more of these restrictions without being disclosed. And is problematic in addressing these constraints First: they are of the nature of the hidden and non-transparent and easy to hide the instructions for application by the authorities concerned, and second in the multiplicity of issuers of the limitations of non-tariff in the State concerned, such as the security, health, media, veterinary, agricultural and other, and III in the difference between Arab countries on the definition of the constraint.
D - the obligation to apply national treatment: there are still some countries apply discriminatory treatment in the proportion of local tax on the national commodities compared to the imported goods Overdo fees and taxes on imported goods do not meet the national commodities, as well as discrimination in the national treatment resulting from the application of bilateral agreements, which raises necessarily bring about a free trade zone replace the bilateral agreements of inter-Arab and asked when the collective bargaining agreement on free trade areas with non-Arab countries so as not to result in the development of these agreements discriminate against Arab goods in the markets of the State concerned.
E - Treatment Products Free Zones: still the problem of dealing with products of the free zones list due to the multiplicity of customs regulations that deal with products of the free zones, and will remain problematic in existence until the completion of the detailed rules of origin for Arab goods and begin to implement the first phase of the Arab Customs Union.

Second, a set of obstacles and issues that are related to economic conditions, political, security and institutional infrastructure in the Arab countries and the institutional structure of the organs of economic and social joint Arab, and not issues applied directly to the free trade area, but apply to all agreements Arab multilateral and the resolutions issued by the institutions of joint Arab action, Among these issues:
1. Weakness of the Arab economic structures, production and service, and continued to work according to the economic policy of protectionism. Still weak productive structure of Arab interdependence and interrelatedness, and depend heavily on imported inputs and capital goods, which places restrictions on regional integration among Arab countries.
2. Bias of national investment policies in the Arab countries for the benefit of the service sectors and sectors producing raw materials, especially oil and gas, sectors do not produce industrial goods to be exported to Arab markets.
3. Weak institutional framework capable of managing the process of economic integration, and this applies to both the national and joint Arab action, which involved the Arab countries with issues of Arab economic integration as issues secondary does not need to allocate financial resources or technical task, and it affects the level of participation and representation in technical and executive committees of the region, and a preference for dealing in bilateral economic relations with Arab countries.
4. Low level of transparency in the dealings between the Arab countries, and this general pattern in the inter-Arab relations, but at the level of inter-Arab trade is heading towards improvement with increasing awareness of the importance of a free trade zone, and improved access to data via information networks.
5. Continuation of the bilateral trade agreements between many Arab countries and a commitment to apply with some exceptions included, making these agreements constraint hampers full liberalization of trade exchange among Arab countries.
6. The security factor remains a concern in the dealings between Arab countries, thereby hindering the movement of goods and intra-individuals.
7. Obstacles to the transport sector in the Arab countries and in particular the transport sector to cross the "transit" between Arab countries.
III: Conclusion.
That the area of ​​Greater Arab Free Trade, despite its importance does not give any weight to an Arab world, because it only reflects the desire of its members to increase the exchange interface, while the Customs Union reflects the will of its members in the face of foreign exchange position of the uniform. The Customs Union is a positive first-class integration in the peace Alaguetsadahaat addresses the problems of free trade zones as a way to combine approaches to trade liberalization policies and methods of protection and increased bargaining power in international trade through better rates of exchange. As is the case in the free trade area should facilitate the customs union of trade between Member States and not lead to the development of obstacles to trade in non-Member States.
Finally, it must be stressed on the need for a set of policies and procedures that must be taken to ensure the success of free trade area in preparation for the transition to a customs union, and these procedures:
1. Dealing with conflicts of obligations, most Arab countries are members of the Free Trade Agreement held agreements with other countries or regions or even among themselves, Egypt, for example, entered in more than a free-trade agreement with COMESA and the Arab region, and with the European Union, the QIZ agreement, and you want free-trade agreement with Washington and these agreements may lead to conflicting commitments, there was no coordination with Arab partners, and therefore difficult to obligations of membership Free Trade Area of ​​the Greater Arab.
2. Investment in the commodities needed by the Arabs and the called address the problem of weak production structures, it is a result Arabs materials that do not need a whole in the local markets such as oil, by contrast, Arabs need for many types of goods not produced by their equipment adequately, either quality or quantity they are blocking the needs of manufactured goods such by imports of the same countries that import energy and therefore the Arab bulk of trade with them, which negates the need for intra-trade, or remain weak and therefore a correction of these conditions should be made to diversify the productive base and improving the production quantities and upgrading the quality of products. This requires work in concert to provide data on markets and import and export opportunities and logistics of transportation, storage, promotion and marketing. With emphasis on the qualitative aspect of the data and not only the quantitative aspect and ensure easy and quick access to
3. Coordination between Arab States on specialization in production according to economic conditions of each country, existence of a free trade area with the major commodities are few and similar in several Arab countries will lead to intense competition without positive results. This requires the development of a map showing the distribution industry at the Arab level commensurate with the comparative advantages of each country and identifies the best areas of specialization in production and areas of horizontal and vertical integration among producers. And seek to stimulate joint investments between the Arab investors to take advantage of economies of scale and economies of scale, thereby helping to open up wider prospects for the exchange. It also means the need to develop a system of interdependent modes of transport and the establishment of adequate shipping lines as well as companies specializing in the service of shipping lines in the field of insurance and other areas.
4. Accelerate steps to establish a Customs Union among the Arab countries, so that there is a common customs tariff for all countries acceding to the Arab free trade zone with the outside world Union Customs derives its credibility from the area of ​​free trade, the more the degree of implementation of the commitments in the framework of the area high into the Union a solid, and the larger varieties trade in the region become an active Union
The most important problems of trade with Arab countries
1 - incorrect certificates of origin (United Arab Emirates, Jordan) and especially the problem of the free zones.
2 - Delayed release of the Customs (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya).
3 - is the imposition of customs duties (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia).
4 - Problems related to specifications and phytosanitary (Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan).
Similar all shipping

3 - there is no direct   shipping lines between the East and the Arab Maghreb and between Egypt and the COMESA countries and the weakness of the Arab fleet