Dubai Customs is the first in exchange of CEN information at the Middle East level

For the second consecutive year, Dubai Customs has achieved the highest rate in exchanging information and news at the Middle East level by providing 166 pieces of information last year resulting in several seizures worldwide, an achievement embodying its keenness on strengthening regional and international cooperation in combating different forms of customs crimes.

This was reported at the closing ceremony of the 15^th Annual Meeting of Regional Intelligence Liaison Office in the Middle East (RILO ME) hosted for the first time by Dubai Customs in collaboration with World Customs Organization (WCO) in order to discuss ways of facilitating and accelerating exchange of information relating to combat of customs crimes.

Mr. Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Araj, Director of RILO ME announced, at the closing session, held Thursday 10 May 2012 that Dubai Customs could for the second consecutive year earn the first place among RILO members in terms of volume of information and news provided to RILO ME on prohibited and counterfeited products in 2011.

Al Araj praised Dubai Customs` efforts to accelerate exchange of information with RILO ME for aborting entry of prohibited and counterfeited products before reaching smugglers within the region and worldwide.

“Information is an important resource in customs due to the increase in volume of world trade, rise of imports, exports and cargos in transit together with the great and increasing growth in the region, which has become a target for several smuggling operations”, Al Araj affirmed.

Mr. Abdullah Sultan Tarish, the Kuwait Customs representative in the meeting valued Dubai Customs` great achievement particularly the Customs Intelligence Department, which provided Kuwait Customs recently with important information on a major seizure greatly contributed to foiling a bid to passing it through Kuwait territories.

“Dubai Customs is keen on strengthening its cooperation and communication with WCO RILO ME being the customs agency responsible for passing information  to its members, which include the six GCC States, Jordan, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon”,  Mr. Abdullah Al Shaer, Director of Customs Intelligence Department at Dubai Customs said.

“RILO ME coordinates with RILOs worldwide over banning entry of prohibited and counterfeited products endangering safety of society`s members and causing gross loss to national, regional and international economies,” Al Shaer maintained.

Yaqoub Al Ali, head of RILO communication office at Dubai Customs said :“Dubai Customs disseminates awareness among its inspection officers about recent smuggling methods through theoretical and practical courses some of which are internally conducted subject to the organization`s human competencies, through the Customs Training Center that opened last year together with the training courses being conducted with Dubai Customs` Stakeholders”.

“These information and news based efforts contributed to the abortion of 6987 attempts to smuggle prohibited and counterfeited products last year as compared to 5971 seizures in 2010,” he added.

At the meeting in which representatives of customs administrations and organizations from 15 Arab and foreign countries took part including WCO delegates and RILOs in Europe, Asia and Pacific and Africa,  Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Al Haif, the Commissioned Minister and Director of Customs Union Management at the Secretariat General of the GCC States  lauded the efforts by the National Contact Points at the Customs departments and administrations of member states whose information they pass to brotherly and friendly States contributed to seizure  of several prohibited products namely drugs that deemed to be a harm endangering youths` health and safety throughout the Arab world.

Colonel Saqer Rashid Al Marekhi, Director of  GCC Anti-Drugs Criminal Information Center delivered a presentation highlighting drugs, their forms and slang names within GCC States and the region.

At the closing session, participants representing RIOL ME member States recommended enhancement of transfer and exchange of information and news among member states, boosting cooperation with United Nations Environment Programme/Regional Office for West Asia (UNEP/ROWA), maintaining capacity building process at RILO ME and member States, encouraging National Contact Points in members states to cooperate in the area of carrying out joint operations and projects and observing to accurately and efficiently enter information in Customs Enforcement Network (CEN).

The attendants praised the support by the Directors General of Customs Administrations at RILO ME and the National Contact Points in the member States urging consistency of such support, which enhances customs officers’` working capacity in the region.