Business | Economy
Gulf customs union will be implemented next year
The full implementation of the GCC customs union will be accomplished in 2009, a senior official said on Tuesday.
- By Ahmed A. Elewa, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:32 August 19, 2008
Abu Dhabi: The full implementation of the GCC customs union will be accomplished in 2009, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes after the suggestion presented by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia to accelerate the process and eliminate all the obstacles facing full implementation.
The six Gulf states launched the customs union in 2003 as part of an economic integration process that is to result in monetary union.
"We have already come a long way, as there are two different kinds of obstacles, the first is customs related and the second is the responsibility of other authorities such as food or medicine, and on both fronts we have achieved remarkable progress," Saeed Al Merri, deputy director general of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) said.
"The political support from the UAE leadership, as well as from Saudi Arabia plays a crucial factor in accelerating the implementation," he added.
The flow of goods between the UAE and Saudi Arabia was influenced by the approach of Ramadan, resulting in various complaints from truck congestion at the land borders last week.
"Most of the cargo was foodstuffs owing to the approach of Ramadan, and we have reacted accordingly, eliminating most of the procedural hurdles, and as a result clearing trucks heading for Saudi Arabia now takes 24 hours compared to three or four days, while clearing trucks entering from the kingdom takes 90 minutes only," Al Merri revealed.
Moreover, FCA arranged a meeting for customs officials from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to discuss systems harmonisation and acceleration of clearing through the electronic exchange of data and information.
"We held a meeting with the heads of operations and we agreed to form a federal committee including customs officials from the seven emirates to work on the unification and acceleration of procedures," Al Merri said.
At the GCC level, the 45th meeting for the customs union Committee will take place at the general secretariat in Riyadh from August 24 to 27.
"We will outline in this meeting our assessment for the obstacles facing the full implementation of the union which include the mechanisms of collection and distribution of customs revenues, the evaluation of customs, inspection procedures, and the counterfeited imports," he explained.
Saudi Arabia has already expressed some concerns about the flow of counterfeited goods through the UAE.
Proposal: UAE to hike tobacco tariff
The UAE is seeking the gradual introduction of a 200 per cent increase in customs duties on tobacco products.
"We fear that hiking the fees instantly will encourage smuggling activities, and accordingly we are suggesting the introduction of gradual increases," Saeed Al Merri, deputy director of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA), said.
The proposal will be presented at the next meeting of the GCC Customs Union Committee in Riyadh next week.
"Other proposals include the UAE's initiative to exempt various non-agricultural basic raw materials from customs at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as well as other initiatives from Qatar related to natural gas, from Oman for fish, and from Saudi Arabia for other goods," Al Merri said.
The GCC is seeking membership in the WTO as a single trade bloc similar to the European Union, a move that will ensure better standings, as some countries such as Kuwait are not yet full members of the international organisation, according to Al Merri.
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