ABU DHABI: The General Administration of Abu Dhabi Customs has recorded a growth in pre-arrival customs clearance transactions during the first quarter of 2023, reaching 33 percent of the total customs clearance transactions at various customs ports across the emirate, compared to 23 percent in the same period of 2022.

Pre-arrival clearance transactions recorded 45 percent of the total customs clearance data at airports, while 31 percent were recorded at land ports, and 9 percent at seaports.

The pre-arrival clearance rate for shipments out the country reached 47 percent of the total number of registered exit data, compared to 38 percent during the same period of 2022.

Inbound shipments recorded 21 percent of the total number of entry data compared to 11 percent last year.

Mubarak Matar Al Mansoori, Executive Director of the Customs Operations Sector, stressed that the growth of pre-arrival clearance transactions since the beginning of 2023 is a product and reflection of the strategic transformation journey at the level of Abu Dhabi Customs, which have yielded in an integrated system of digital and innovative services and systems adopted at advanced technology and AI techniques that contributed to reducing time and effort for both workers and customers, by facilitating procedures and reducing time of completing transactions, in addition to strengthening the customs inspection system and make them more efficient by using the latest detection devices to combat smuggling and monitor the movement of goods.

He emphasised that the launch of the pre-arrival clearance procedure has actively contributed to promote the partnership between the private sector and Abu Dhabi Customs by creating digital channels to provide proactive services that make the emirate of Abu Dhabi virtually interconnected with the countries of the world. This supported the movement of international trade across borders and the system of trade corridors with the emirate and promote the speed of procedures, where the procedure was a qualitative addition to raise customer satisfaction by reducing the time of customs release in the customs clearance process at the customs ports of the emirate, reducing costs by reducing storage costs and time before clearance, and expanding the granting of customs facilities to companies.

Al Mansoori explained that the pre-arrival clearance procedure aims to prepare in advance to deal with the clearance and inspection procedures for shipments before they arrive at the border crossing, and raising the level of mutual trust between merchants and loyal through transparency in the sharing of important data before arrival, and the application of clearance stages before the arrival of shipments, moreover using and analysing the data entered into the system to explore ways to facilitate traders and brokers, especially with regard to the time of clearance, inspection and transit through the border crossing.

He added that Abu Dhabi Customs has succeeded in launching and implementing specific initiatives within the best international practices to promote the customs system across the emirate to enhance its global leadership position, where it embraced the hidden customs system, which is one of the most important initiatives of the General Administration of Abu Dhabi Customs for the next fifty years, to concentrate on the flow of trade movement and keep abreast of variables changes and global trends. “The strong reputation of the emirate of Abu Dhabi contributes to the enhancement of confidence and sustainability of relations with the relevant authorities at the local, regional and international levels and raise the quality of customer happiness,” he added.

He also pointed out that the digital hidden customs system "effortless customs clearance" has been implemented by providing (APIs) for all platforms providing customs services, which contributed to reducing visits to customer happiness centres, as less than 10 visits were recorded in 2022, while more than 200 visits were recorded before the implementation of the system.

Additionally, the pre-arrival clearance procedure can be applied to through a range of smart channels such as the Abu Dhabi Government Services Platform (Tamm) and Abu Dhabi Advanced Trade and Logistics Platform (ATLP), summarised by the (importer/ exporter) or its representative submitting the customs declaration, paying customs duties, in addition to meeting the requirements of the regulatory authorities (if any) and ending the customs procedures before the arrival of the goods to the customs centre

The goods will later arrive at the customs port to start the inspection process through the radiological inspection devices and match the shipment data, in preparation for the clearance and release process.