The electronic link between the General Authority of Customs (GAC) and all the related ministries, organisations and entities is expected to be completed in July with the launch of its final stage with Milaha Maritime & Logistics, it was announced yesterday. 
“The e-link will offer great benefits by easing the customs procedures,” Abdelhadi Hassan al-Sahli, director of the marine customs at GAC, explained in an interview released to the media.
He stressed that increasing co-ordination and co-operation with partners are of great importance. This will also help in accomplishing the necessary customs clearance statements within a few minutes if there is no embargo on the goods concerned. 
“Qatar’s single window automated customs clearance facility – Al Nadeeb, has led to a quantum leap in easing and expediting the customs procedures as the marine customs department can now accomplish clearance of around 800-1,000 containers a day instead of the 200 before introducing the system,” the official recalled. 
“When the Hamad Port would be fully functional in July, it would resolve all the difficulties faced by some companies currently,” al-Sahli pointed out. All the customs transactions would be conducted electronically. The search and inspection of the containers will be done through an operation room using electronic detectors. 
“There are now more than 500 employees working at the marine customs and regularly undergo specialised training courses. Some of the training courses are optional and the other mandatory according to the needs of work. The marine customs has 150 employees under the department for customs evasion prevention and the customs security who are tasked with searching vehicles at the gates, whether those of the customs clearance officers or the employees,” al-Sahli added.
Al Nadeeb was officially launched in September 2013 to deliver “better communication and integration” with the trade community and in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the country’s Digital Inclusion Strategy for a “fully e-government”.
Al Nadeeb has been praised by the World Customs Organisation, which rated Qatar as “a highly efficient, safe and globally recognised trade-friendly” country.
A GAC official had said earlier that the launch of Al Nadeeb has made “Qatar number one in Arab world and tenth globally in the ease of customs procedures and regulations.”
The customs checkpoint at Abu Samra at the border with Saudi Arabia is also being integrated into the Al Nadeeb system, launched to provide advanced customs services to customers in Qatar in line with global standards.
“Al Nadeeb has transformed Qatar into an active partner in facilitating global trading with the provision of fully transparent customs environment ensuring security and safety through unique system for risk management and selectivity.
“Under Al Nadeeb it takes only 15 minutes to finish customs clearances under the system, reduces paper work and it has an inspection percentage ratio of less than 5%,” the official added.