The Council of Ministers has approved the establishment of a one-stop-station for inspection in integration with Bayan System in all the Sultanate’s land, sea and air ports. The move is aimed at boosting trade activities in the Sultanate, reinforcing Oman’s logistic status, cutting the cost, stimulating import-export activities and expediting the accomplishment of transactions.This will consequently contribute to the utilisation and import of modern technologies and finding new opportunities for commercial businesses, thus making the Sultanate’s ports more attractive, thanks to an efficient customs system. This is a step forward towards empowering the logistics sector so as to become an effective tool for economic diversification taking into account the broad aspirations of the national strategy 2040.
The decision comes as a translation of the visions of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos who steers the government towards facilitating the procedures and transactions and accelerating decision-taking at a time when the speedy delivery of goods at a reduced cost became the factors that determine the direction which the world trade takes. Based on this, the authorities concerned are required to rapidly deploy their assets in a way that enables them to procure a big share of global trade, a goal currently sought by the Sultanate in line with the global economic changes.
The Sultanate’s ratification of international agreements aims at facilitating trade and opening broader horizons in global trade.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry of Transport and Communications said the government departments concerned with customs will be linked with the Bayan System through the one-stop station by the end of this year.
The process of connecting to Bayan System will be overseen by Royal Oman Police (ROP). Agreements for service provision will be signed between the directorate-general of customs and the government departments and the
work at the one-stop station will begin in January 2018.
With a view to boosting the efficiency of goods movement and enhancing the Sultanate’s competitiveness, the Council of Ministers has approved the performance indicators of customs clearance and inspection the implementation of which will be overseen by the Oman Logistics Centre (OLC). The maximum duration for the clearance and delivery of goods to the importers at the sea ports has been set at 24 hours this year and 10 hours in 2018.
In the airports, the maximum duration has been set at 8 hours this year, and 4 hours in 2018, while at the land ports the maximum duration has been set at 3 hours this year, and 2 hours in 2018.
In a statement the Ministry of Transport and Communications has affirmed that OLC will conduct a study for establishment of firms to handle customs clearance and inspection operations on behalf of the government departments, the results and recommendations of the study will be ready by the end of the first half of 2018. — ONA
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