Dubai Customs celebrates International Customs Day

Marking the International Customs Day, Dubai Customs is hosting today (Jan. 26, 2015) a number of activities at the Customs main office. Activities include a panel session, headed by H.E. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, alongside all DC’s executive directors.

Customs processes and future development plans are the focus of discussion at the session. In addition, a short film depicting the journey of the World Customs Organisation and Dubai Customs’ globally-acclaimed achievements in 2014 is played.

Annually held on January 26, International Customs Day (ICD) recognizes the role of customs officials and agencies in maintaining border security. It focuses on the working conditions and challenges that customs officers face in their jobs.

The WCO is dedicating ICD 2015 to promoting Coordinated Border Management (CBM) under the slogan “Coordinated Border Management - An inclusive approach for connecting stakeholders”.

On 26 January every year the Customs administrations of 179 Member States of the World Customs Organisation host various national events to mark the first session of the Customs Co-operation Council. The official inauguration session of the Council was held in Brussels on 26 January 1953. In 1994 the Customs Co-operation Council adopted a new name - World Customs Organisation (WCO), thus becoming a global intergovernmental organisation.

Dubai Customs has contributed over the years to developing Customs processes internationally through the cooperation and coordination with the WCO, setting new rules and regulations for Customs operations.

The World Customs Organization's Columbus Diagnostic Mission Report praised Dubai Customs' experience at improving the usage of IT applications in order to provide quality services to the customers. The report considered Dubai Customs a model for customs work, and called upon other customs authorities and organizations around the world to learn from it. 

Dubai Customs organised the WCO IT Conference and Exhibition 2013, themed “Effective Solutions for Coordinated Border Management”, in May, 2013, which brought together more than 1,000 international, regional and local representatives of the World Customs Organization, stakeholders and international media organizations as well as customs departments of more than 100 countries.

Moreover, H.E. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the World Customs Organization IT Conference and Exhibition 2014, hosted in Brisbane, Australia on May, 2014.

In 2008, Dubai Customs hosted the 4th Global Conference on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, organised annually by the WCO and INTERPOL. It was the first time the Global Conference was held outside Europe.

Remarkably, the United Arab Emirates was named the most competitive nation in the MENA region and third globally in efficiency of customs procedures - based on DC procedures and performance, in the Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum in 2014.