GULF NEWS & Excerpts from the GCC customs union law All customs procedures for goods coming into GCC countries will be undertaken by the first Gulf destinatior where they arrive, according to Rashid Hammad, acting UAE Customs Council chairman. In the GCC Customs Union, the UAE will start using a GCC unified customs declaration that will help the region collect statistical information on inter-Gulf trade, he added The GCC Customs Union will be implemented in phases with the first starting in January, and the second ir January 2004 until December 2004. Following are excerpts from the GCC Customs Union law provided by the UAE Customs Council FINAL DESTINATION MECHANISM: Customs revenues collection during the transition period Source of Goods: First GCC Entry Point Whole Consignments: ‘A) During the three-year transitional period, all customs procedures (the unified customs declaration inspection and collection of taxes) will be undertaken at the first GCC customs point - the first Gulf country the goods arrive at. Following the completion of the full procedures, the goods will be sealed and moved directly or indirectly from that point to the final GCC destination ‘An import declaration with the value of the goods and the customs tax will be issued by the first GCC entry Point in favour of the final d GCC destination A copy of the import declaration will be stamped to prove the goods exited the first GCC entry point and passed through member GCC countries. B) Customs duties levied on whole consignments shall be transferred to a special account to complete the clearing of duties between member states. Partial Consignments: A) Partial consignment means part of the goods traders had finalised the procedures for at entry points and want to move or transit through other GCC states, before being sent to final destinations. Customs declarations,and copies of original import declarations will be sent with the partial consignments tc the desired destination. Alll of them will be saved B) Customs declarations will be stamped by all inter-GCC customs posts, to prove that the goods entered ¢ moved out of the country. Copies of the documents should be kept for the completion of clearing duties between member states. C) Customs duties levied on partial consignments shall be transferred to a special account to complete the clearing of duties between member states. If the source of the goods is the local markets: -Foreign goods originating in the local Gulf markets and directly or indirectly moving to another GCC countr will be handled as follows during the transitional-period: 1) Foreign goods imported by the GCC countries before January 1, 2003, and originated in the local markets, will be taxed at the final destination 2) No extra duty will be levied on the foreign goods which were imported by the GCC countries after Januar 1/2003 and their importers proved they had paid their taxes after the formation of the customs union. Taxespaid at first entry point are sufficient. ~ 3) Customs duties will be levied at the final destination on the goods which were imported after January, 1,2003 and their importers had not proved they had paid their taxes after the formation of the customs union 4) Customs duties will be levied on the foreign goods exempted in accordance with the free trade agreements with the GCC countries, at the borders of the country they are re-exported to. 5) To complete clearing duties between the GCC states, the GCC countries will authenticate the usage of customs declarations for statistical purposes. 6) Information on customs declarations will be filled by by the owners of the goods or their representatives. The declarations will be authenticated by customs departments at exit points, attached with local bills containing the actual value of the goods and their origin 7) Customs departments at exit/entry points will stamp the declarations to prove the goods had entered or exited. 8) Customs declarations used for statistical purposes will be computerised to facilitate the monitoring of inter-GCC trade by customs posts and ensure precision of information for the clearing of duties between th: GCC countries. 9) To complete the clearing of duties between GCC members, the calculations of the value of foreign goods moving ion local markets , will be undertaken at the first entry points regardless of the duration they remained there . required documents and facilitation of procedures will be taken into considerations. 10) If any GCC member country wants to cancel or remove a restricted or banned product to the list of the GCC joint list, All GCC countries must be informed if a Gulf country wants to remove/add a product to the approved list of goods. Customs responsibilities of Inter-GCC Customs Posts: Phase One: During Phase one (January to December 2003), inter-GCC customs posts will focus completing the custo procedures for the establishment of the GCC Customs Union as follows: 1) Export, re-export and transit measures will be cancelled at the inter-GCC customs posts. 2) At the inter-GCC customs posts, import documents and customs duties documents shall be checked Customs officials will ensure that duties have been levied and no banned goods are included. 3) Inter-GCC customs posts must assure that non-customs measures concerning importing some goods have been followed in accordance with the requirements of the importing countries. 4) The aforementioned measures must be applied to foreign goods transported directly from a GCC membi to the remaining members. Local bills and documents agreed by the GCC customs union will be sufficient t prove the transaction. 5) National goods , along with declarations and local will move freely among GCC member states. Local bil and declarations are attached 6) Periodical reports on the results of implementing this phase will be forwarded to the committee tasked with the execution of the customs union, Phase Two: During phase two (January to December/2004) whereby inter-GCC customs posts will increase confidence in the customs union and benefit from the positive results of the first phase, in the following manner: 1) Inter-GCC customs posts will continue checking import documents and customs duties. Customs official: will continue ensuring that duties have been levied and no banned goods are included. 2) It will only be sufficient for Inter-GCC customs posts to check the local bills and documents agreed by the GCC customs union, in order to prove that foreign goods were transported directly from a GCC country to the remaining members. Regulations for re-funding duties levied on re-exported foreign goods:Customs duty levied on foreign goods re-exported abroad may be refunded in accordance with the followin regulations: 1) The exporter or re-exporter must be the importer who imported the foreign goods and must prove undoubtedly to the customs department that he/she purchased these goods. 2) The value of the foreign goods to be re-exported must be no less than $5,000 or the equivalent in local currency. 3) The foreign goods must be re-exported within a year from the date on which the customs duty is paid when the goods first imported from a non-GCC country. 4) The foreign goods must be imported in one shipment to easily identify them through import documents. / shipment