Saudi customs reject UAE food shipments

Wednesday, Jul 19, 2006

By Ahmad Ameen, Staff Reporter

Abu Dhabi: Saudi customs authorities are rejecting UAE trucks loaded with foodstuff, saying they should be transported to the Gulf kingdom in refrigerated or ventilated units, according to UAE customs officials at the Ghowaifat check-point.

"We have had about 14 trucks that went out of the UAE, yet were not allowed into Saudi Arabia on these grounds. We understand that such requirement can be crucial for dairy products. The fact is that there are not enough refrigerated trucks for all UAE foodstuff exports to the kingdom Food producers might incur losses because we cannot afford to stop production lines, and due to the additional cost of warehousing," Colin Smith, general manager of Abu Dhabi Vegetable Oil Company, told Gulf News.

Smith said the Saudi move was a reaction to the rejection of some food shipments by a Saudi company, as the UAE authorities required the products to be isolated from the sun and ventilated.

"It seems that their requirement of ventilating and isolating foodstuff from the sun will remain, which can be a very problematic issue."

"Our trucks have been stranded for two weeks, along with many other trucks of UAE food production companies, and there were tens of blocked vehicles on the border."

UAE's Ghowaifat border officials said several Saudi trucks were rejected a couple of weeks ago for the same reason. "But neither we nor the Saudis are reacting according to the similar treatment principle."

"This is not a new regulation, as we require specific food items, such as milk powder and potato chips, to be stored in suitable temperatures during transport, not refrigeration, just simply ventilated units maintaining room temperature [25 degrees Celsius], and this does not apply only to trucks from Saudi Arabia, but from any other country," said an official.

"Direct sunlight and high temperature can have serious damaging effects on food components, such as oxidation."

However, trying to take a more flexible UAE position, the official said, "The customs authority does not reject food shipments anymore, as we now divert any such case to the concerned municipality for examination."

A UAE food company spokesperson said, "This is a new requirement from Saudi authorities they started to apply from July 8 requiring either ventilated units, or isolation with plastic sheets and curtains."

"We spoke to the laboratories department at the Saudi Ministry of Trade, which said the application of this regulation is set if the temperature is above 40 degrees. However, we have been exporting to Saudi Arabia since 1998, and we never faced such a requirement," he added.

Earlier this year, the 34th meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council's trade cooperation committee had discussed the obstacles facing flow of trade among GCC countries, among which were differences between the standards and specifications in each country and differences in inspection procedures.

Addressing that meeting, Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy, had highlighted the importance of eliminating all the existing obstacles.