The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) Customs Union which has been put into practice recently and converts the six-countries that comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council into a single customs zone, has been welcomed by Aptec, an IT distributor in the Middle East.
The implementation of the customs union will see the removal of duties, fees, taxes and other charges as well as procedures hindering trade between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The GCC customs union is consistent with global trends where the objective of removing trade barriers has become a norm. A unified customs duty will create a level playing field in the Middle East market, which will encourage the private sector to compete on an equal footing. The integrated and transparent duty procedures will also result in the reduction of logistics and transportation costs which will ultimately benefit the customer,” said Regional General Manager of Gulf, Lebanon and Africa at Aptec Gulf, Bahaa Salah.
“Resellers within the region stand to benefit tremendously from the customs union as unified duties bring more transparencies; stimulate interregional trade; prices across the GCC will be standardized; the cost of moving goods between countries will be reduced as freight becomes cheaper, duty will be paid at the first point of entry into the GCC and not recharged when shipped into another country,” added Salah.
Under the terms of the GCC customs union, goods entering the GCC pay five percent duty at the point of entry after which the goods are not dutiable throughout the six member states. But, the sudden implementation of the duty across the GCC created severe logistical problems for several distributors. In some of the GCC states, the customs authorities were not clearly notified about the new regulations, which caused delays at the borders resulting in many of the resellers paying duty at both the origin and the final destination.
”Though the sudden implementation of the unified duty caught many distributors off guard, Aptec’s customers were not affected by the new measures as we were well placed to handle such a change. With an efficient supply chain management that offers quicker lead times and a network of offices across the Middle East and well-stocked warehouses in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Aptec is in a position to meet the demands of resellers across the region by delivering goods to them without any additional charges or delays. As a value-added distributor, our aim is to provide a range of extra benefits to resellers across the region, including minimal shipping charges,” said Salah
“Aptec will be analysing the logistical changes that have come about due to the implementation of the GCC customs union. We will be looking at further ways to meet the challenges of our ever-changing business environment.” — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
