The General Administration of Customs stressed on shipping companies, postal parcels and maritime transport the necessity of inspecting parcels and checking their contents, as they will bear legal responsibility if any prohibited or restricted goods are found when seized.
In this regard, the Acting Director General of the Customs Administration, Suleiman Al-Fahd, issued customs instructions regarding additional controls for the commitment of shipping companies, postal parcels departments and maritime transport in the GCC countries, during which he approved 7 main controls based on the approval of the Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee at its meeting No 114 in November 2021 based on what was recommended by the Union Customs Authority in its meeting held on October 26, 2021 regarding the minutes of the meeting of the Customs Procedures and Computer Committee (September 70, 2021), which includes strengthening the currently applied procedures through the commitment of shipping companies, postal parcels and maritime transport in accordance with the following controls:
1 – Emphasizing the companies’ commitment to the laws of member states and taking into account the agreed procedures for dealing with prohibited and restricted goods and materials.
2 – The companies’ obligation to inspect parcels and check on their contents, and notify customs departments and authorities of any smuggling or smuggling attempt or suspicious contents and in the event of failure to report, they bear legal responsibility when finding any prohibited or restricted goods.
3 – Commitment of companies, in the event of the presence of public or private warehouses for express mail, to provide surveillance cameras connected to the operations room for customs departments and authorities, in addition to x-ray examination devices for parcels according to the legislation and laws in each member state.
4 – Using appropriate means of transportation to move from one customs point to another. The means of transportation are followed up through the operations room of customs departments and authorities by means of an electronic lock, if any, according to what is in place in member states.
5 – Postal consignments received at the manifest are exchanged between postal companies and customs authorities and administrations, including the type, class and value of the goods and the consignee’s data including national identity information.
6 – Automatic linkage between the mechanism of the express mail company with the risk management system in the customs authorities and departments.
7 – Obligating courier companies to amend their policies to include the shipment path and a detailed description of the goods, number, value and weight.
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