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Dubai: Non-tariff barriers are still hampering trade among the six-member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), who in 2003 established a Customs Union (CU) to unify customs laws and procedures to ease the movement of goods within the GCC region, according to a latest report.
The CU has largely facilitated trade among the GCC countries, but non-tariff barriers still exist, a survey conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has found.
The poll found that while a majority of Dubai-based traders saw an improvement in procedures under the CU, around half experienced problems with double tariff charges on more than one occasion.
A third of the traders were required to produce "unnecessary certificates of origin" and almost two thirds experienced differences in product standards among member countries.
While the CU was felt to have accomplished its task, the non-tariff barriers that needed addressing were found to be most prevalent in Saudi Arabia. The survey found that 71 per cent of Dubai companies encountered difficulties in Saudi customs procedures.
Sixty per cent of the traders polled have run into delays in clearance in trade to or from Saudi Arabia and 45 per cent experienced differences in the Saudi fee structure.
Trade within the region, Rizwan Sajan, chairman of the Danube Group, a local building materials company, said he had only experienced difficulty at the Saudi border, where he was forced to pay the five per cent tariff again.
The survey cited Oman as the easiest country in which to find trade partners and Saudi Arabia the most difficult.
Anti-dumping: UAE stand reiterated
The UAE yesterday reiterated its stand against anti-dumping, urging the Gulf states to enforce the law to combat dumping.
"Enforcing the law to combat commercial dumping in the GCC requires huge efforts from all the GCC countries. The law plays an important role in protecting the industrial sector, and is one of the most pertinent ways to protect Gulf industries," Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, said yesterday.
The Law to Combat Commercial Dumping was issued in January 2004 by a GCC decree. Al Mansouri highlighted UAE's stand on the issue at a meeting with Rihan Mubarak Fayez, director-general of the GCC Technical Secretariat of Anti-Dumping.
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