GCC postpones customs union

For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-09-07

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) failed to agree on the terms for a joint customs union and postponed it to study the matter further, wire services reported Tuesday (September 7th).

"We will not rush things and we will study and review at all stages," said Abdulrahman al-Attiyah, GCC secretary general.

The council disagreed on how to collect and distribute tariff revenues, but may establish an automatic system to collect customs duties, rather than the current manual system.

"We hope to overcome these obstacles through an electronic clearing house, an important step toward finalising the customs union," said Kuwait Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Sabah.

The tariff and protections issues have delayed the formation of a customs union for several years, but al-Attiyah said the move toward a common GCC currency is "actively progressing".

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