Dubai Customs reports H1 highlights, processes 14 million transactions

Image: Dubai Media Office

Dubai Customs cleared 14 million customs transactions during H1 2023, a 10 per cent surge from the 12.7 million transactions reported in the same period last year.

Dubai Customs revealed that business registration service transactions went up 7 per cent, recording 143,000 service requests.

According to the Dubai Media Office, customs declarations stood at 12.3 million transactions, accounting for 88 per cent of the total number of customs transactions.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, director-general of Dubai Customs and CEO of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said, “Trade is among the key sectors that have led the growth of the local economy during last year and this year. The comprehensive economic partnership agreements the UAE has with various countries of the world give a great impetus to trade exchanges and increase the value of non-oil foreign trade thanks to the top-notch facilities and benefits they bring to traders and businesses, strengthening the UAE’s position as a prime global trading hub.”

.@DubaiCustoms posts robust H1 performance with 14 million transactions processed in 6 months.https://t.co/jQ9OQBxdSq pic.twitter.com/AVCKzKX9d7

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 23, 2023

Musabih said: “By leveraging smart services and projects, Dubai Customs is facilitating the automation of customs procedures, improving business operations and boosting commercial returns. We have world-leading customs systems that enable us to process about 80,000 transactions per day.”

In line with its efforts to fight counterfeit trade and protect businesses’ intellectual property (IP) interests, Dubai Customs handled 194 cases of IP disputes H1 2023, involving 10.7 million counterfeit items with a total value of Dhs53.277m.

The government department also continued to organise recycling operations for counterfeit and IP-infringing goods, which saw the recycling of 176,000 items belonging to 65 global trademarks.

The authority also made 1,059 seizures and filed 908 customs cases.

Dubai Customs efforts to promote sustainability and CSR

The customs authority announced the Green Customs initiative, which represents a model for joint international action to prevent illegal trade of environmentally sensitive goods, by building capacities of customs inspectors and personnel concerned with monitoring, licensing, and control of hazardous materials and waste, and endangered species of wild fauna and flora.

The move is in line with the Year of Sustainability goals and the UAE’s hosting of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) from November 30 to December 12 this year.

In line with corporate social responsibility goals, the department successfully targeted 131,134 beneficiaries during the first half of this year through 80 community and volunteering initiatives.