The UAE's Unified Customs Law is all set to come into force in the country by the end of 2009, a senior official has said. Saeed Khalifa Al Marri, Federal Customs Authority's (FCA) Deputy Director-General, told Emirates Business that the body will soon set up a committee to start unification procedures. This will include standardising all the country's customs departments to apply the new, common law.
Al Marri said the differences in customs rules in different parts of the country are due to the operational freedom given by existing laws to the heads of all customs departments in the UAE. "Our aim in the FCA is to issue a unified executive list that is binding for the entire UAE," he said.
Although the customs unification project is a huge one, steps are being taken to complete it as soon as possible, especially in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, which together account for 95 per cent of the UAE's customs transactions. The FCA has already completed an electronic link between the customs departments around the country. He said the FCA was currently setting up information and intelligence units in all customs departments to intensify the fight against fake goods and drugs.
Speaking about a GCC Customs Union, Al Marri said all its teething troubles should be resolved by 2009. About Saudi Arabia's concerns over smuggled and fake goods entering its market, Al Marri said: "We have discussed this with the Saudi authorities. It appears that in one of the past few years, the total value of goods that entered Saudi Arabia was SR11 billion (Dh10.7bn), including goods worth SR300 million from the UAE.
"Even if we assume that 50 per cent of UAE goods were fake – which is impossible – they will not exceed 1.5 per cent of the total commodities entering into Saudi Arabia, and this percentage is much less than the globally accepted 10 per cent."
Al Marri said the UAE was largely a transit country for global merchandise. Eighty per cent of the goods exported to the UAE are re-exported with the remaining 20 per cent distributed internally and in GCC states. He said the GCC Customs Union will hold its next meeting in Riyadh between August 24 and 27. – Emirates Business 24|7
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