"It's impossible to examine each and every tank, the x-ray scanning machines that we have are for security reasons," Saud Al-Fahad, assistant of Saudi Customs General Manager Salih Al-Khilaiwi, said on Tuesday, at the second Jeddah Commercial Forum. "Products may also be damaged when improperly stored or transferred. Consumers need to play a role by not buying such products," he said while answering an Arab News question about the announcements of the Saudi Food & Drug Authority related to products that are harmful to public health.
A short film shown by the organizers narrates the story of a tank that arrives in Jeddah and the difficulty traders face to release it, as the containers have to be examined by 16 government departments at the port before the goods can go into the local market.
Earlier, speakers discussing government regulations called for providing a system whereby restrictions are eased and more transparency is available.
However, Al-Fahad said, not all tanks have to go through those departments. Traders, both speakers and participants, complained about the short working hours of Saudi customs employees (from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.), which they say is not sufficient to take care of 4,000 tanks arriving every 24 hours.
Al-Fahad spoke about deregulations and said they have already placed all scanning departments under one roof and hope to activate an electronic system to minimize the dependence on manpower in the near future. He also admitted of the unauthorized transport of oil outside the Kingdom including gasoline, "which is committed by expatriates who benefit from the low prices of these products in the Kingdom."
Mohammad Abu Dawood, chairman of Mohammad Hassan Abu Dawood trading company, said the Kingdom had investments worth SR1.5 trillion, with SR110 billion allocated for developing the infrastructure and services provided to the community plus SR580 billion, which is the government's annual budget. "All our efforts should aim at reducing the dependence on oil as the Kingdom's primary income." He called on the public not to blame traders for all faults and criticized local columnists for writing about things they are not fully aware of. He also said there was a pressing need to unify the procedure among all regions, as "procedures and court rulings on commercial issues vary from one region to the other."
Nasir Al-Tuwaim, acting chairman of the Customer Protection Association, said the Kingdom ranks 160th among 194 countries in terms of good living conditions. "Much more has to be done in terms of combating corruption and promoting transparency," he added.
Women were present at the forum starting from the first speech that was delivered by Nashwa Taher, president of the forum, on the opening Monday. Faiza Natto, an active woman among the people with special needs, gave an interpretation of the proceedings through the sign language. Suzan Al-Qurashi, a professor at King Abdulaziz University, was an additional moderator at the first session of the forum that was devoted to the easing of government regulations.
