ABU DHABI- The GCC Customs Union Authority recently held its 23rd meeting chaired by the UAE, the President of the current session, via video conferencing, due to the current state of emergency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting agreed to find appropriate solutions to ensure the streamlining of commodities via the inter-country air, land and seaports so that the precautionary measures taken among the council’s countries to curb the outbreak do not impact the flow of goods.
The meeting was chaired by Ahmed Abdulla Bin Lahej Alfalasi, Director-General of Federal Customs Authority, and saw the participation of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Chairman of Bahrain Customs; Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz Alhaqbani, Governor of Saudi Customs General Authority; Khalifa Bin Saeed Alabri, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs of the GCC General Secretary; Brigadier-General Khalifa Bin Ali Alseyabi, Director-General of Oman Customs; Counsellor Jamal Bin Hadel Aljalawi, Director-General of Kuwait Customs General Authority; and Ahmed Bin Abdualla Aljammal, Chairman of Qatar Customs General Authority. During the meeting, the Customs Union Authority confirmed the commitment of GCC customs departments to work together with other competent entities in each country to coordinate in tackling, following up and overcoming any challenges encountered by the flow of commodities.
The Gulf Authority emphasised the significance of facilitating customs procedures to import and move commodities via the land, sea and airports of member states.
The authority underscored the crucial role assumed by communication officers in the GCC countries’ customs departments in addressing any consequences incurred by the movement of commodities among member states and the significance of direct and bilateral communication among the members of the Customs Union Authority in this regard. During his inaugural speech, Alfalasi said, "The coronavirus pandemic represents tremendous health, economic and social challenges to countries; nevertheless, we trust the capabilities of the customs departments of the GCC countries to turn this challenge into an opportunity of advancement in the near future by developing work approaches and innovating new mechanisms to protect the community and readily process customs transactions to steadily gear up and advance towards the future."
The meeting addressed several issues on the agenda that included reviewing the list of prohibited and restricted commodities within GCC countries, and the minutes of the last meetings and recommendations of the GCC customs subsidiary committee and teams encompassing unified customs law committees and customs procedures, among others. The meeting was also attended by UAE delegates, including Molhamed Meer Abdul Rahman, Director of Sharjah Customs; Alia Al Marmoum, Director of Customs Policies and Affairs, along with a number of the authority’s customs departments officials.
© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2020.
