New customs plan to boost goods delivery
MUSCAT: Residents and shopkeepers in Oman can soon expect faster deliveries of vital goods into the country, due to the establishment of a one-stop inspection station by Oman Customs.
The plan is to be rolled out across all of Oman’s ports and customs outlets in January 2018, with seven government agencies, including Oman Customs, collaborating to ensure an efficient and transparent service for all vendors and distributors across Oman.
The one-stop inspection stations aim to reduce the number of hours spent on the inspection of goods at different customs outlets. These include reducing the clearance time in seaports from the current 24 hours to only 10 hours, from eight hours to four hours in airports, and from three hours to two hours across land routes.
“The inspection platform at the one-stop inspection station will include six other relevant government agencies: the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, the Ministry of Health, the Muscat Municipality and Dhofar Municipality,” said Col. Khalifa Al Siyabi, Director General of Oman Customs.
“All representatives of the relevant parties will be physically present at the goods inspection sites at the same time, and these stations will operate 24 hours a day,” he added.
At a ceremony, Oman Customs also announced the names of the new four Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) in the Sultan- ate. The companies that were awarded these AEO certificates were Khimji Ramdas Shipping, Huawei Tech Investment Oman, Octal SAOC FZC and Reem Batteries and Power Appliances Co. SAOC
“The licenced economic operator seeks to build a real and effective partnership between the private sector and customs department, and offers a range of privileges and facilities for companies,” added Col. Al Siyabi.
Companies that have previously been authorised as economic operators include Al Madina Logistics, Sea Safe Trade, Integrated Logistics and Areej Vegetarian Oils and Derivatives.