Jeddah Islamic Port Customs has started a pilot project to streamline the entry of goods into the Kingdom through a single administrative office. Saleh Al-Khelaiwi, Director General of Customs, said that the “single-stop” project sees customs house government representatives, private laboratories, customs clearance authorities, handling companies and banks all under one roof. “Two buildings will also be built in the north and south of the port to help finalize customs procedures in a professional and efficient manner,” Al-Khelaiwi said. “If the scheme works it may be introduced at other customs points around the country.” Speaking to businessmen at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh on Monday, Al-Khelaiwi said that a new container terminal had been set up at the port as backup to existing terminals. “This is on top of a five-dock zone, named the ‘Gateway of the Red Sea', with an annual capacity for two million containers. The first ships to use the docks arrived in late December last year,” he said. According to Al-Khelaiwi, training at the Customs Institute has started for personnel to conduct radiological scanning of containers, trucks and luggage at all Saudi customs points, and a computer link-up is planned between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and chamber of commerce offices abroad to exchange certificates of origin and invoices with the Saudi Arabian Standards and Quality Organization (SASO). Al-Khelaiwi said that new regulations should ensure that procedures take no more than three weeks. “Those who are granted exemptions and fail to use them will be penalized,” he noted. “The Customs Department is responsible for checking the use of exemptions, not the Ministry of Trade.” According to Khelaiwi, customs exemptions were worth SR5 billion and customs revenues SR13 billion in 2009, and responding to claims that goods had been damaged during unloading he added that 60 percent of containers and trucks underwent radiological scanning while 40 percent were unloaded manually for inspection. Al-Khelaiwi added that in 2009 four million trucks and 12 million cars entered the Kingdom, and that the King Fahd Causeway was the main source of attempts to smuggle contraband.
