The plan for customs duties related to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is fully ready, an official of the General Authority of Customs (GAC) has said.
“A work plan for matters related to customs duties has been developed, at a rate of 100%, for the 2022 World Cup,” said Ajab Mansour Alqahtani, Director of Customs Administration at Hamad International Airport (HIA) in the latest Newsletter of the GAC.
Talking about the most prominent preparations for HIA customs and efforts made to facilitate the movement of passengers and goods during the World Cup, he said: “A plan has been drawn up to change the work system at the time of the tournament and to provide the appropriate numbers of employees for the time of the tournament.”
He said the HIA Customs Operations department is concerned with finalising the procedures of customs goods that are received with travellers and collecting customs duties thereon, in addition to seizing prohibited and restricted goods and keeping them in customs warehouses.“
As for the customs department of the main passenger lounge, the department monitors the movement of passengers, inspects them and inspects their luggage in accordance with the provisions of the law and the application of the provisions of prevention and restriction of some types of goods imported into or out of the country, as well as combating customs smuggling and illegal activities and issuing seizure reports.”
As for the external lounges department, he said, it is concerned with monitoring the movement of passengers in the ministerial lounges, VIP travellers and their luggage, controlling the entry of aircraft crews and their luggage at the airport from the relevant authorities, and monitoring the movement of currencies and negotiable financial instruments.
He said that the Customs Devices and Control Department is specialised in examining the baggage that comes with passengers when they are unloaded from the planes by x-ray inspection devices, in addition to combating customs smuggling of materials that are inside the luggage and bags. “Customs seals (security sticker) are placed on suspicious baggage, to be inspected by the customs officials.”
He added that customs rangers make inspection tours in all airport facilities to observe the status of suspected smuggling crimes, passing information on suspicious travellers, monitoring and following up on suspicious bags, and passing information about them to specialists.
The official said that there are many government entities working with the GAC according to the type of seized items, such as the Narcotics Control Department and other security departments in the Ministry of Interior and some support agencies from other ministries.
On measures taken to protect intellectual property rights, he said smuggling is combated by several means, including baggage checks, inspecting passengers, and customs yard monitoring and control.
“Regarding intellectual property, the Customs Administration prevents the entry of restricted materials without referring to the competent authorities in the country and taking the necessary approvals for that and keeping them until the completion of their procedures.” Regarding customs control of the facilities designated for private aircraft at HIA, he said that the external lounges department inspects the luggage and bags of passengers in private planes, in the building designated for private aircraft.