Customs procedures to be simplified on Causeway

The President of Customs, Shaikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa, yesterday issued a decision for pre-customs clearance on King Fahad Causeway. The move aims to simplify customs procedures and avoid the piling of trucks on the Causeway.  The owners of goods, their representatives and customs clearance agents will be now able to present the statements and finish the customs and non-customs related procedures in less than 30 minutes.

The Customs Affairs has urged the owners of goods to get the pre-approval to avoid the delay, and it is prohibited to keep the vehicles at the customs yard after they are cleared. In line with their policy of integrating strategy, officials of Saudi and Bahrain customs departments recently held their third bilateral meeting in Riyadh. Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al Hakbani, governor of the General Customs Authority, headed the Saudi side while Shaikh Ahmed, led his team of officials at the meeting.

The meeting addressed many customs related topics most importantly the “joint border checkpoint” and its implementation in the two countries, which requires the co-operation of the bodies responsible for goods clearance, and the revision of the import clearance certificates, and restricted-goods lists in both countries. Furthermore, deliberations included setting common processes to co-ordinate with World Customs Organisation (WCO) and international affairs, implementing the link of the comprehensive customs tariff by the Bahrain Customs, and linking the Saudi and Bahraini border systems.

The meeting also addressed the implementation of the detailed mutual recognition plan for the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programmes in both countries. Among the most important security related subjects that were discussed was the proposed plan for the security team and exchange of information, which was approved and agreed upon during the meeting. At the end of the meeting, both parties agreed on the steps to be implemented during the coming stage, while insisting on the importance of continuous coordination to achieve the stated objectives.