Jeddah- Saudi customs recently barred clearance agents from dealing with hired brokers representing owners when processing imports and exports.
The new regulation warns that all commodity release must be cleared in the presence of direct owners. The stepped up measure comes after the board registering multiple attempts of hired brokers to cheat their way out of customs tariffs by providing forged documents.
Saudi Arabia’s head of Jeddah’s customs chamber, Ibrahim Aloqaily, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the measures will further secure the sector in addition to the rights of those involved in the process of clearing imports and exports.
Authorized clearance agents are held legally responsible for the entire process– limiting dealings to direct owners would ensure fluid processing and guarantee legal equity for trade transactions and partakers, Aloqaily added.
Saudi customs seeks to provide integrated customs services to meet development requirements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and keep pace with the latest developments at local and international level. This will be achieved through a form of a difficult formula considered Saudi customs mission and slogan represented in (accelerating release of permissible goods and preventing entry of prohibited ones).
It requires striking a balance between facilitation of flow of trade for importers and exporters in accordance with the Kingdom’s international obligations on the one hand, and carrying out accurate inspection tasks of consignments, on the other hand, to ensure prevention of entry of prohibited and infringing materials such as counterfeit items as customs represents the first line of defense for the country.
In keep with its mission, Saudi customs had recently upgraded its processing system, offering electronic services aimed at facilitating procedural paperwork for clearance. Among the sea ports upgraded is the Jeddah Islamic Port.
Located at the heart of the international shipping route between east and west, the Jeddah Islamic Port occupies 10.5 square kilometers, with 58 deep water quays having an overall length of 11.2 kilometers with a draft reaching 16 meters.