A meeting of the socio-economic council kicked off at the Arab League General Secretariat Monday.

The meeting, under Egypt, is the fourth of the extra-ordinary session of the council to discuss the specific rules of origin that have not been agreed upon by Arab countries.

Those rules should be outlined as part of a free trade zone among Arab countries.

Participants are seeking to reach an agreement about the specific rules of origin of 43 remaining commodities before referring them to the ministerial session of the council in September, said Tamer Mahmoud, the head of the regional agreements department at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Saturday.

Mohamed al Tuwejiri, the chairman of the economic affairs sector at the AL, said the general rules of origin will continue to be applied until the specific rules of origin are agreed upon.