Foreword
The Member States of the
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) seek to simplify
customs procedures within the GCC Customs Union with a view to increasing
Intra-GCC trade and international trade, as well as compilation, comparison and
analysis of statistics of Intra-GCC trade and international trade.
To cope with the latest
developments in customs procedures and the relevant international standards,
and to achieve the anticipated objectives of the GCC Customs Union,
The GCC Supreme Council (32nd
Session, Riyadh, December 2011) resolved to unify the customs procedures in
order to ensure uniform application of the GCC standards and implementation of
the requirements of the agricultural and veterinary quarantine, as well as
control of the counterfeited and
fraudulent commodities across GCC first points of entry, and avoid repetition
of the customs procedures at Intra-GCC
customs ports, excluding those procedures that have not been applied at
the first points of entry.
Accordingly, the GCC Customs
Union Authority had instructed (in June 2012) the Customs Procedures &
Computerization Committee to prepare the “Unified Guide of Customs Procedures
at GCC First points of Entry”.
To this effect, the Customs
Procedures & Computerization Committee and the GCC Secretariat General have
finalized preparation of the “Unified Guide of Customs Procedures at GCC First
points of Entry”, which was endorsed by the Financial & Economic
Cooperation Committee in May 2014, and it was agreed that said Guide would be
implemented as of January 2015 across all GCC first points of entry.
On this occasion, the GCC
Secretariat General is pleased to put at your disposal the first edition of the
“ Unified Guide of Customs Procedures at GCC First points of Entry” , both in
Arabic and English, and extend its gratitude and appreciation to the members of
the GCC Customs Procedures & Computerization Committee and all those who
have diligently contributed to the completion of this work from all GCC Customs
Administrations, for their highly
professional and persistent efforts that have led to the successful
preparation of this Guide based on the international common practices and customs procedures,
which will be used by competent GCC
customs officers and business community.
The GCC
Secretariat General is hopeful that this work “Guide” would achieve the
anticipated goal, further facilitate customs operations in the GCC Member
States and fulfill one of the most important requirements of the customs union.
GCC Secretariat-General
Division of Economic and
Development Affairs
Customs Affairs Department
Saed Service
