Mauritania has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Mauritania has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Export formalities are reportedly cumbersome, slow and costly. Export operations require customs officials to visit the exporter’s premises and often depend on approvals being granted at senior administrative levels. These procedural constraints increase the overall cost of exporting. In addition, the misuse of the “miscellaneous” category in the customs export nomenclature has been identified as another opaque practice that further undermines transparency in the export process.

Type approval procedures in Mauritania are regulated by the Autorité de Régulation (ARE). It is reported that the conformity requirements are similar to those of the European Union. The homologation process in Mauritania does not require local laboratory testing or contact with local representatives.

It is reported that the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 25, below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Mauritania does not have a legal framework that applies consumer protection to online transactions. Law No. 2020-007 on consumer protection does not frame the protection of consumers for goods and services online.

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).

Mauritania has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Law No. 2017-020 provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Mauritania.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in Mauritania's law and jurisprudence.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Mauritania's law and jurisprudence.

It is reported that Mauritania imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card or a passport in case of foreigners to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

The government of Mauritania has reportedly imposed two internet shutdowns in 2024, following two similar incidents in 2023. In July, mobile internet services were suspended for several weeks amid post-election protests. This was followed by another disruption in August, when authorities restricted access during the administration of the national baccalaureate exams. In addition, the indicator "7.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in Mauritania for the year 2024. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

Import formalities are reportedly cumbersome, slow and highly costly. It is reported that the flat-rate customs tariff applied to certain containers constitutes an unfair competitive practice, further distorting the import process and disadvantaging traders operating under standard tariff procedures.

The Government of Mauritania reportedly holds a 46% equity stake in Mauritel, a provider of mobile, internet, and enterprise communications services.