In matters of foreign trade, the Minister of Trade is responsible:
- To develop and/or participate in the establishment of the institutional and regulatory framework related to commercial exchanges;
- To organize, in relation with the concerned institutions, the distribution and negotiation of international trade agreements and to ensure their implementation and monitoring;
- To ensure compliance of legislation and regulations with the frameworks governing international trade;
- To stimulate and promote throughout the appropriate structures and those on relevant relations, bilateral and multilateral foreign trade activities;
- To handle, within the limits of its authority, disputes related to international trade;
- To develop and propose any strategy for promoting non-hydrocarbon exports;
- To promote and encourage the participation of economic operators in national or foreign economic events;
- To coordinate, in collaboration with the concerned institutions, the services responsible for commercial affairs at Algeria's diplomatic representations abroad;
- To contribute to the establishment and organization of the operation of free zones;
- To ensure the development and implementation of a communication and statistical information system on international trade exchanges.
In terms of regulation and promotion of competition, the Minister of Trade is responsible:
- To propose any measures aimed at strengthening the rules and conditions for fair and healthy competition in the markets for goods and services;
- To contribute to the development of competition law and practice;
- To organize the continuous monitoring of the market, to analyse its structure, to identify and put an end to, in coordination with the concerned institutions, illegal practices aimed at distorting the free play of competition;
-To contribute, in coordination with the concerned institutions, to the coherence and enrichment of the framework in the field of public utility regulation;
- To participate in the development of pricing policies and, where applicable, in the regulation of prices and margins, and to ensure their implementation;
- To propose and ensure the implementation with the concerned institutions of all matters related to the conditions and modalities of creation, establishment, and exercise of commercial activities and regulated professions;
- To initiate all measures related to the creation and development of chambers of commerce and industry;
- To participate in the national security storage policy in relation to the concerned organizations.
In terms of the quality of goods and services and consumer protection, the Minister of trade is responsible:
- To determine, in consultation with the relevant ministerial departments and organizations, the conditions for the consumption of goods and services in terms of quality, hygiene, and safety;
- To propose all appropriate measures within the framework of establishing labeling systems, brand protection, and origin application, and to monitor their implementation;
- To initiate actions toward the concerned economic operators with a view to developing self-monitoring;
- To encourage the development of quality analysis and testing laboratories and to propose official analysis procedures and methods in the field of quality;
- To contribute to the establishment and development of consumer law;
- To participate in the work of international and regional organizations specialized in quality matters;
- To develop and implement a communication and information strategy related to the prevention of food and non-food risks, aimed at professional associations and consumers, whose creation it encourages.
In terms of economic control and fraud repression, the Minister of Trade:
- Organizes, directs, and implements the control and fight against illicit commercial practices, anti-competitive practices, quality-related fraud, and counterfeiting;
- Contributes to the guidance and intersectoral coordination of economic control programs and fraud repression;
- Conducts all in-depth economic investigations and, where appropriate, refers them to the judicial authorities.
In terms of promoting national production:
The Minister of Commerce participates in the development of tariff protection policies and initiates any specific safeguard measures.
In the field of economic and commercial studies and information, the Minister of Commerce is responsible:
- To carry out the tasks to enable better handling of the missions assigned to him.
In matters of economic and commercial studies and information, the Minister of Trade is responsible:
- To conduct prospective studies on economic development and international trade exchanges;
- To ensure the establishment of databases related to domestic trade and international exchanges;
- To contribute to the organization and development of the national economic information system.
The Minister of Trade ensures the proper functioning of central and decentralised structures, establishments, and organizations under his department.
In the context of managing his responsibilities, the Minister of Trade establishes the organizational framework as well as the human, financial, and material resources necessary to achieve the objectives assigned to him.
He can propose any institutional framework for consultation and intersectoral coordination and/or any other appropriate structure or body capable of enabling better handling of the missions entrusted to him.
