UAE: Dubai Customs handled 14 million transactions in the year's first half1

In the initial half of 2023, Dubai Customs completed clearance for 14 million customs transactions, marking a 10% increase compared to the same timeframe in 2022. Business registration services witnessed a 7% rise, with 143,000 service requests recorded. Customs declarations constituted 12.3 million transactions, representing 88% of the overall customs transactions. These figures underscore the escalating recovery within the business sector.2

Furthermore, Dubai Customs managed 194 cases of intellectual property disputes during this period. These cases encompassed 10.7 million counterfeit items valued at AED 53.277 million. The department also continued orchestrating recycling efforts for counterfeit and IP-infringing goods, successfully recycling 176,000 items affiliated with 65 global trademarks.

Alongside these achievements, Dubai Customs carried out 1,059 seizures and initiated 908 customs cases. These endeavors reflect their pivotal role in ensuring national economic security, fostering an appealing investment climate, and elevating the country's stature as a prominent global business and trading hub.

In alignment with the Year of Sustainability objectives and the UAE's hosting of COP28, the Green Customs initiative3,4 serves as a notable example of collaborative international efforts. This initiative aims to help customs inspectors and relevant personnel become better at supervising, licensing, and managing items that are bad for the environment, like dangerous chemicals, waste, and endangered plants and animals.

Footnotes

1. https://www.dubaicustoms.gov.ae/en/NewsCenter/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsId=1943 (2023.7.23)

2. https://wam.ae/en/details/1395303179759 (2023.7.23)

3. https://www.greencustoms.org/

4. https://gulfnews.com/uae/crime/green-customs---dubai-crackdowns-on-trade-in-commodities-harmful-to-environment-1.93402644 (2023.1.23)

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