Improving the Border Agency Cooperation

Among the OIC Member States for Facilitating Trade

intra-GCC trade. Importantly, the customs union follows the GCC common customs law that

sets uniform customs rules and procedures throughout the union,

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for example rules for

calculating customs value for foreign goods. The common customs law sets a solid basis for the

elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers for the intra-GCC trade.

One of the key benefits of the GCC customs union is that it allows the member countries to

negotiate trade agreements with third countries at the GCC level

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. The UAE and Abu Dhabi

used to have bilateral trade agreements between different GCC member states and other

countries around the world. It was the UAE that entered trade talks with other countries and

negotiated terms of trade agreements. Today, however, GCC negotiates trade deals for its six

member states collectively: the GCC members no longer sign bilateral agreements on their

own. For example, in January 2015, the free trade agreement between GCC and Singapore

entered into force. The new agreement lowered tariffs by 93.3% and granted a zero-tariff entry

for goods from GCC into Singapore. When negotiating with Singapore, Abu Dhabi customs

provided information to the UAE Federal Customs Authority, a body entitled to negotiate at the

GCC level.

Figure 18. Institutional setting for international Border Agency Cooperation

Source: CBRA (public domain info)

Abu Dhabi and the UAE are members of other important intergovernmental organisations and

trade blocks. As a major oil exporter, the UAE is a member of the Organization of the

Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The UAE is also member of the Greater Arab Free

Trade Area (GAFTA), a regional free trade zone between 17 Arab countries. The UAE takes part

in the Arab League that contributes to the commercial relations and customs matters in its 22

member states. The UAE is also an active member of the World Trade Organization and the

World Customs Organization (WCO). The UAE has signed, for example, the WTO’s General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the WCO’s Revised Kyoto Convention (The

International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures)

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Though the customs law may be the same in GCC countries, interpretation and therefore practice of these rules differ

from country-to-country.

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Since 2002, when the GCC member states signed the Economic Agreement, the unified trade policy of the GCC has defined

the trade policy in the UAE, and in Abu Dhabi in particular.

Abu Dhabi

Fujairah

Ras al-Khaimah

Sharjah

Dubai

Umm al-Quwain

Ajman

United Arab Emirates(UAE)

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Bahrain

Kuwait

Saudi-Arabia

Oman

Qatar