The UAE Federal Customs Authority has announced that the total value of customs duties transferred by the emirates to the GCC countries amounted to about Dh1 billion ($272 million) in 2018, as well as transfers from the GCC to local customs administrations.

The transfers were through the implementation of 168,726 transactions in the Automated Transfer Customs Duty (ATCD) system, which was launched in October 2015.

In its report, the UAE Federal Customs Authority stated that the value of customs duties transferred by the UAE to the Gulf States for goods and commodities that entered the GCC countries through customs entry points in the UAE amounted to Dh866.4 million, representing 84 per cent of the total amount transferred during the year 2018.

This reflects the processing of 134.3 thousand transactions, said the report.

Saudi Arabia had the lion's share of total customs duties transferred by the UAE to the Gulf countries during 2018 with Dh456.1 million, representing 52.6 per cent of the total transferred fees followed by Oman with a share of Dh241.4 million or 27.9 per cent.

Kuwait came third with a share of Dh118.1 million, representing 13.6 per cent, and Bahrain's share of total remittances reached Dh48.3 million, representing 5.6 per cent, stated the report from the Authority.

The customs duties on goods and commodities destined for the UAE transferred from the GCC countries to the local Customs Administrations in the UAE amounted to Dh136.8 million. This reflects processing of 34.4 thousand transactions representing 14 percent of the total amount transferred during the year, it added.

Ali Al Neyadi, the commissioner of the Authority, said the ATCD system was one of the latest technical tools that contributed to enhancing GCC customs cooperation by shortening the time taken for dutys transfer. This took a year under the previous clearance system (Makassa) and is now only 30 days.

He pointed out that high volume of remittance reflected the UAE's key role in the GCC Customs Union in implementing the system.

"The country is the first gateway to the GCC countries as well as being a regional trading hub for the Middle East and neighboring regions. The ATCD reflects the positive contribution of the UAE to GCC customs work and the country’s pivotal role in supporting the GCC economic, trade and security cooperation," he added.-TradeArabia News Service