Representatives from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) private sector will participate in the upcoming joint meeting in Riyadh to discuss ways to remove obstacles blocking the full implementation of the landmark common market. The Dammam-based Federation of the GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FGCCI) said it would attend the Oct.3-4 meeting of the common market committee for the first time. The meeting followed failed talks by GCC countries on proposals to push ahead with the customs union, hindered by rifts on the distribution of revenue from customs tariffs on foreign imports and other issues. The GCC group's invitation for the FGCCI was in line with a resolution by the GCC heads of state at their summit in Kuwait last year to get the region's private sector involved in decisions related to economic merger moves. “The Committee will benefit from the private sector's experience in economic affairs and its ability to present a clear vision on the ambitions of the private sector in the region,” FGCCI Secretary General Abdul Rahim Naqi said. “We have been charged by the GCC Secretariat to prepare an annual report on the common market, the obstacles facing it and the suitable solutions to end these obstacles,” he said. GCC launched a common market in early 2008, a few years after they kicked off the long-awaited customs union in line with their 1981 economic pact. In an earlier statement, Naqi said several obstacles need to be resolved to ensure the full implementation of the customs union and common market. One problem involves a decision by member states to prevent transport companies in some GCC countries from opening branches in some other members or to reject licenses for some of those companies to set up new firms in those members, he said. “Other obstacles include restrictions on the movement of a large number of trucks to the ports in some GCC members besides many other barriers which we are trying to discuss with the competent authorities to find solutions.” He said the FGCCI had received letters from hundreds of GCC businessmen and industrialists who complained about their daily agony at regional border points. The GCC customs union was launched in 2003 and a common market early this year. However, local traders are still finding it difficult to export their products to other GCC members while some of them have to pay high fees and others have to wait for a long time pending the completion of routine check-ups, resulting into losses. “We have received many reports from the private sector in the GCC countries complaining that some member states are still demanding local exporters to produce certificates of origin for their products while others are asking for national quality certificates, which require payment of high fees, thus largely increasing the costs of those products,” he said. “Some members are also still imposing additional fees on imported products although these products are taxed only at the first entry point in line with the customs union agreement ... in other cases, traders are subject to the payment of fees or charges under different names while routine examination of products is taking a long time which causes damage to products and inflict losses on traders...many GCC products are subject to exaggerated check-up measures,” he added.
