Mauritania Member profile
No notifications submitted by Mauritania
Trade policy review
Latest Trade Policy Review (Report by the WTO Secretariat): WT/TPR/S/371/Rev.1
A. Import prohibitions and restrictions and import licensing
3.58.
Since acceding to the WTO, Mauritania has not made any notification under the Import Licensing Agreement.[62] According to the authorities, Mauritania is not currently applying any quantitative restriction on imports for economic purposes.
3.59.
For reasons of safety, health or religious morality, the importing of some products is prohibited. Under Article 157 of the new Customs Code the following goods are prohibited: - animals and goods from contaminated countries, under the conditions envisaged in the legislation on health, veterinary and phytosanitary policy; - narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; - arms, parts of arms and ammunition, with the exception of arms, parts of arms and ammunition intended for the national army or security forces; arms, ammunition, military uniforms and decorations may be imported only by the competent authorities; - pornographic writings, printed matter, drawings, posters, engravings, paintings, photographs, negatives, moulds, reproductions and any object contrary to morality or such as to disturb public order; and - natural or manufactured products of foreign origin bearing directly on the products themselves or on the packaging a trademark or trade name, name, mark, label or decorative motif comprising a reproduction of national decorations, coats of arms or emblems such as to induce the mistaken belief that they were manufactured in Mauritania or are of Mauritanian origin.
3.60.
The Customs Code does not contain any prohibitions on imports of alcoholic beverages or pig meat. The importation of prohibited or restricted products may reportedly be authorized by a competent government authority. The importation of fishing boats is subject to the prior authorization of the Minister responsible for fisheries.[63] A special regime continues to be applied to imports of petroleum products; the import authorizations are managed by the Ministry responsible for petroleum and energy (Section 4.2.2.2). Moreover, in Mauritania there are three lists of plants and plant products which are, in principle, prohibited from being imported or subject to authorization (Section 3.3.3). Finally, a decree on the prohibition of plastic bags in Mauritania entered into force in January 2013.[64]
B. Export prohibitions and restrictions
3.69.
According to the authorities, Mauritania is not currently applying any prohibition or quantitative restriction on exports and does not require export licences. However, to export fishing boats it is necessary to obtain the prior authorization of the Minister responsible for fisheries.[65] Moreover, in order to combat malnutrition and iodine deficiency, in 2008 the Government decided to prohibit the export of some species of fish, such as grey mullet, and to open sales outlets for fish in the hinterland.
WTO's environmental database (EDB)
The EDB contains environment-related measures that may qualify as QRs and therefore should be notified under the QR Decision.