Doha: The General Authority of Customs (GAC) refunded around QR41m of customs duties in 2021, a GAC official has said in the monthly newsletter.
All goods imported into Qatar are subject to customs duties based on a percentage value of goods or a per-unit basis. Customs duty refers to the tax imposed on goods transported across international borders.
“Refund of duties can be done electronically through the Al Nadeeb system. A request is submitted and referred to the specialists at the customs port. The data is reviewed and verified, then audited by the Financial and Administrative Affairs administration about whether it is due.
Approvals are made by reply or are refused. The amount of refund fees for 2021 is equivalent to QR41m,” Saleh Alyazidi, Director of the Financial and Administrative Affairs Administration at the GAC, said in the newsletter.
The Al Nadeeb electronic system was designed to facilitate commercial and customs operations, focusing on customer satisfaction following the standards of the World Customs Organisation and the World Trade Organisation agreements.
Al Nadeeb is fully integrated into all ports and customs facilities in Qatar and offers a wide range of services to both the private and public sectors.
Alyazidi also stressed that the Financial and Administrative Affairs is committed to ensuring the GAC’s annual objectives are achieved, and the budgets are effectively implemented as per the country’s laws.
Besides, it follows up on and audits the revenues of the financial settlements, manages the clearing systems, and exchanges money transfers between the GCC countries.
Alyazidi said the department has completed the electronic link with the government procurement and the completion of the annual objective (e-signature project), adding, “We are now automating procedures for requests to provide cars, maintenance of facilities and provide housing services to employees.”
Meanwhile, the GAC recorded 301449 released data in March – a significant rise compared to February figures which stood at 249,646.
According to the GAC monthly newsletter, the Air Cargo and Private Airports completed 273,214 of the total data released in March.
On the other hand, 22,546 released data were recorded by the Maritime Customs Administration. The efficiency of the Authority was again near perfect last month as 97 percent of its data was released within an hour of processing.
The Authority also transferred 27,909 of its recorded data to other government entities.
The United States of America reclaimed the top importing country position in March, displacing China which had maintained the status since the beginning of the year, while India remained the leading exporting country to Qatar.
The Ministry of Municipality’s Animal Resources Department claimed the Best Government Entity recognition in terms of the time of release averaging 1.39 hours per release time.
The GAC also continued its impressive seizure records as it thwarted 196 attempts to smuggle illegal substances into Qatar, with its largest bust being 5123.5g of heroin.
