Arab states revenue share from GATT is 1%

The Arab Labor Organization stated that revenues from customs' duties to countries of the GATT Agreement [General Agreement on Tarrifs and Trade] are between $150 - $200 billion and that the Arab states share of this amount is only 1%.

In comparison, European revenues are $61.3 billion, Japanese revenues are 27 billion, the U.S. revenues are 36.4 billion, the Russian Republic's are $37.4 billion, with the remaining countries sharing about 18% of the total revenues.

The report stressed the importance of Arab states benefiting from mutual customs exemptions to enhance their roles and to enable them to face challenges posed by the GATT agreement, represented in customs exemptions, the cancellation of the quota systems and quantitative restrictions imposed on some agricultural products entering the developed countries' markets.

The report added that the cost of importing agriculture and food substances to the Arab states increased to $21 billion annually which represents 23% of total Arab imports.

Some analysts have expressed concern regarding the lost custom duty revenues that are essential for some Arab states, since these states lack an effective internal business/personal income taxation system that can generate the needed funds for government operation. In many Arab states, custom duties generate a large portion of the governments' revenues.

Some have expressed concern that anti-monopolistic GATT