The Al-Batha customs outlet is fast turning out to be the most notorious point for smuggling counterfeit good into the Kingdom, what with the heavy traffic that passes through this route.
Saleh Alkhlawi, director general of Saudi Customs, confirming the trend, said Al-Batha accounted for the highest volume of confiscation of smuggled goods in the Kingdom. “It is a veritable flood of vehicles that pass through Al-Batha customs, with about 4,000 truck logging through the point on any given day, and at least a 1,000 of them are headed to other countries, including East Europe,” he said, adding that the sheer volume of traffic indicates the volume of counterfeit goods entering the Saudi markets.
Asserting that the Saudi Customs put in every effort to prevent smuggling, he said: “Come summer and the attempts to smuggle are on the rise mainly because of the Haj season and the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.”
Stating that smuggling of goods had seen a downtrend in the past year mainly because of improved quality of imported goods, Alkhlawi said the Customs authorities had also drawn up a list of big merchants who indulge in such activities. “The imports of such blacklisted merchants are subjected to thorough inspection, particularly when it comes to goods concerning human safety,” he said.
The senior official, however, denied that his department was subjected to pressures and influence of these merchants. “We have 14 committees for customs and tariffs which are empowered to impose penalties and hand down imprisonment,” he said, adding that cases of graft were limited to a few individual employees at the organization level but not the entire department.
“When it comes to conducting laboratory tests of products, the Ministry of Commerce does it, and most of it is outsourced to private agencies,” he said, pointing out that there were several layers of inspection which ensure that the goods are worthy to be placed in the market. “The trademark inspection is also carried out by trained and qualified staff,” he said.
Smuggling attempts increase with the advent of summer
