DOHA - The Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, yesterday passed a decree exempting various kinds of cement, gravel and reinforced steel imported into Qatar from non-GCC countries from customs duty with retrospective effect from January 1. The new decree is expected to tremendously benefit Qatar's booming construction industry which is currently plagued by scarcity of different kinds of material.
The Emiri Decree No-32 of 2006 was passed yesterday after considering Law No-42 of 2002 and a decision by the GCC Secretariat taken during last year's GCC summit in Abu Dhabi as well as the proposal by the Minister of Finance and a draft law proposed by the Cabinet. The decree exempts from paying Qatar import duty, items that are extensively used by the construction industry.
Article-1 of the law states that items imported from countries outside the GCC region into Qatar are exempt from Customs Duty beginning January 1, 2006 are different types of cement, gravel and reinforced steel (rebar). Article-2 calls upon concerned local authorities to implement the law after its publication in the official gazette.
The kinds of cement imported from outside the GCC region that are exempt from import duty are, water cement as clinkers or in any other form, Portland cement, white cement and cement with artificial dyes, regular cement, cement that are used for saline environment, cement aluminum. The different types of gravel exempt from import duty are the type used in concrete mix, construction of roads and railway lines, fillings and for reclamation. Steel exempted from import duty are iron and steel bars without alloys.
© The Peninsula 2006
