Mauritania has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Autorité de Régulation (ARE), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Law No. 2017-020 provides that the controller may transfer personal data to a third country only if that country ensures an adequate level of protection (Art. 20). The Personal Data Protection Authority shall publish and maintain a list of states that it considers to provide an adequate level of protection (Art. 21). If the country is not included in the list of adequate countries, the controller must first inform the Authority. Moreover, Art. 24 specifies that the data controller may transfer personal data to a third country that does not meet the requirements of Art. 21 if the transfer is one-off, not massive, and the person to whom the data relates has expressly consented to its transfer, or if the transfer is necessary for any of the following purposes:
- to safeguard the life of that person.
- to protect the public interest.
- to comply with obligations to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.
- the performance of a contract between the controller and the data subject.
Lastly, the Authority may authorise, on the basis of a duly motivated request, a transfer or a set of transfers of data to a third country that does not ensure an adequate level of protection when the data controller offers sufficient guarantees with regard to the provisions of this law, including through contractual clauses (Art. 25).

According to the Bangui Agreement, ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Mauritania, applicants resident outside the territory of the Member States must file through an agent selected in one of those Member States (Section III, Art. 8). The professional status of agent accredited to the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is governed by the Regulations on the profession of Authorised Agent before the OAPI.

Mauritania is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Mauritania is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

In accordance with Art. 38 of Law No. 2021-024, to encourage participation by domestic companies, a price preference is granted to compliant bids submitted by Mauritanian bidders. As established in Art. 39, this margin must be specified in the tender documents as a percentage of the bid amount, up to a maximum of 15% of the contract value.
Art. 58 of Decree No. 2022-083 implementing implementing Law No. 2021-024 further details the procedure for establishing this preference. Moreover, Art. 59 the Decree provides that a tenderer who plans to subcontract at least 20% of the total contract value to one or more national companies may benefit from an additional preference margin of up to 5%, which may be combined with the Art. 58 preference, subject to a maximum total margin of 15%. However, subcontracting more than 30% of the total value of a contract is prohibited.

Art. 32 of Law No. 2021-024 provides that, in order to encourage the participation of social economy players such as associations, workers' or craftsmen's cooperatives, Economic Interest Groupings and social enterprises, or SMEs, particularly those employing disabled people, unqualified young people or women, the contracting authority may reserve for them access to small contracts for works, supplies or non-intellectual services.

Public procurement reportedly lacks transparency in Mauritania. In 2023, the Court of Accounts, the public body responsible for overseeing public funds and public accounts, issued an audit covering 2019–2021 that identified widespread non-compliance across government ministries. The report highlighted mismanagement of public resources, unauthorised gifting and use of project assets, and disregard for procurement rules. In particular, it documented systematic non-adherence to the legal framework governing public finances, including failures to apply the public procurement regime, especially in relation to competitive bidding procedures.

Art. 17 of Law No. 2024-002/PR Relating to Technological and Innovative Startups grants preferential treatment in public procurement to certified startups to promote innovative products and services and encourage their participation in tenders. Preferential treatment also applies where a bidder subcontracts to one or more nationally certified startups, and a price-preference margin is available to Mauritanian or foreign bidders that co-contract with a certified Mauritanian startup, provided the contract specifies the share of execution awarded to the startup. The detailed modalities are to be set by regulation, which has not yet been issued.
Art. 4 defines a “startup” as a company legally incorporated in Mauritania, within decree-set thresholds on age, headcount, balance sheet, and turnover; with at least 50% of share capital held by Mauritanian natural persons or national investment organisations; demonstrating high growth potential; and offering a business model or products/services with a strong innovative—particularly technological—dimension.

Mauritania is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.

According to Art. 2 of Law No. 2012-052 on the Investment Code, the law shall encourage direct investment of domestic and foreign capitals, ensuring such investment and facilitating the related administrative procedures.

According to Art. 12 of the Investment Code, foreign investors operating in Mauritania may employ foreign nationals in key management positions, up to 10% of management staff, in accordance with applicable labour legislation. The recruitment of foreign personnel is subject to authorisation and the issuance of a work permit by the competent authority, and is permitted only where equivalent national skills are unavailable. Investors are also required to provide training opportunities for an equal number of national staff to ensure skills transfer. It is reported, however, that although these rules are intended to promote knowledge transfer, their enforcement is not strict.