Non-tariff barriers are still causes obstacles for 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 release 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 research conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has found.
The poll discovered 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 case.
One third of the traders were enforced to produce "unnecessary certificates of origin" and almost two thirds experienced differences in product standards among member countries.
While the CU was needed to have accomplished its task, the non-tariff barriers that required addressing were found to be most predominant in Saudi Arabia. The research found that 71 per cent of Dubai property 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 one.
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