Trade between the GCC member States will be conducted within the framework of a customs union that will be implemented no later than the first of January 2003. It shall include, at a minimum, the following:

• i. A common external customs tariff (CET).

• ii. Common customs regulations and procedures.

• iii. Single entry point where customs duties are collected.

• iv. Elimination of all tariff and non-tariff barriers, while taking into consideration laws of agricultural and veterinarian quarantine, as well as rules regarding prohibited and restricted goods.

• v. Goods produced in any Member State shall be accorded the same treatment as national products.

To secure better terms and more favorable conditions in their international economic relationships, Member States shall draw their policies and conduct economic relations in a collective fashion in dealing with other countries, blocs and regional groupings, as well as other regional and international organizations.

Member States shall take the necessary measures to achieve this objective, including the following:

• i. Negotiate collectively in a manner that serves the negotiating position of the Member States.

• ii. Collectively conclude economic agreements with trading partners.

• iii. Unify import and export rules and procedures.

• iv. Unify commercial exchange policies with the outside world.

GCC natural and legal citizens shall be accorded, in any Member State, the same treatment accorded to its own citizens, without differentiation or discrimination, in all economic activities, especially the following:

• 1. Movement and residence

• 2. Work in private and government jobs

• 3. Pension and social security.

• 4. Engagement in all professions and crafts

• 5. Engagement in all economic, investment and service activities

• 6. Real estate ownership

• 7. Capital movement

• 8. Tax treatment

• 9. Stock ownership and formation of corporations

• 10. Education, health and social services

Member States shall agree to complete implementation rules sufficient to carry this out and bring into being the Gulf Common Market.

For the purpose of enhancing local, external, and intra-GCC investment levels, and provide an investment climate characterized by transparency and stability, Member States agree to take the following steps:

• 1. Unify all their investment-related laws and regula-tions.

• 2. Accord national treatment to all investments owned by GCC natural and legal citizens.

• 3. Integrate financial markets in Member States, and unify all related legislation and policies.

• 4. Adopt unified standards and specifications for all products, according to the Charter of the GCC Standardization and Metrology Organization.

Member States shall coordinate their external policies related to international and regional development aid.