RIYADH, Aug 24 (KUNA) -- Custom officials of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states started a meeting on Sunday to discuss a long agenda of various topics such as means of tackling obstacles obstructing inter-Gulf cooperation in this vital sector.

The conferees, as officially reported, will follow up, during the meeting, held within the framework of the GCCGCC Custom Union Committee, further steps that should be taken to overcome hurdles facing "the joint action process in the custom union and concluding the transitional period."

This approach was underlined by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, the Monarch of Saudi Arabia, during the 28th session of the GCCGCC Supreme Council, noting the necessity to speed up the unification of custom procedures and tackling any obstacles facing the process.

In particular, they are discussing a mechanism proposed by the GCCGCC Secretariat-General to process clearance operations electronically, unifying fees of service at the custom exits and matters related to a thorough inspection of the border checkpoints of the GCCGCC countries, due on November 8-23, as a prelude to the final phase of the GCCGCC tariff unification process.

They are also discussing prospects of increasing tariff fees on tobacco, means of dealing with products of unknown origin and issuance of a booklet including lists of prohibited products and commodities.

At the internatioal level, the junior officials will discuss the on-and-off negotiations with the International Trade Organization (ITO) and lifting fees on some imported items.

The GCCGCC was founded in the early 80s to consolidate cooperation in various fields among six of the region's countries; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. Yemen is represented in some sub-committees of the regional bloc.