Dubai Customs has hosted a two-day meeting on the Suspicious Cargo Initiative launched in mid-2014 with the intention of further boosting communication between Customs administrations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) - Middle East, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Saeed Al Tayer, Executive Director of the Policies & Legislation Division, Mr. Talal Al Abdooli, Customs Intelligence Director, and other senior officers attended the meeting. Mr. Faisal bin Saud Al Mujaish, Director of the RILO - Middle East, together with other RILO executives, were also present.
After welcoming guests from across the GCC, Mr. Al Tayer stressed that the meeting was aimed at encouraging more cooperation to serve the mutual interests of the GCC States through enhanced coordination between their Customs administrations. “Dubai Customs is fully committed to boosting interactions between all GCC Customs administrations, particularly in areas of sharing information between themselves and also with the RILO - Middle East. This will ensure better analysis capacities and use of the same ways of tracking local and international Customs crimes. Stemming from this, Dubai Customs launched the Suspicious Cargo Initiative in mid-2014 to keep a close eye on suspicious transit cargo thought to be violating Customs regulations or containing illicit merchandise,” Mr. Al Tayer said.
The Director of the RILO - Middle East, Mr. Al Mujaish, expressed his deep appreciation to H.E. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, for launching the Suspicious Cargo Initiative. He said it was having a tremendous impact on the region by maintaining security in the GCC States.
Mr. Al Mujaish commended Dubai Custom’s commitment to sharing information with the RILO - Middle East in Riyadh and with Customs administrations in the GCC, and encouraged other Customs administrations to follow suit to ensure proper action is taken against suspicious transit cargo at its final destination.
Shedding light on the Suspicious Cargo Initiative, the Director of the Customs Intelligence Department, Mr. Al Abdooli, said it had been launched by Dubai Customs in July 2014 to facilitate and encourage information sharing on suspicious shipments by Customs administrations within the United Arab Emirates and across the GCC region. “The Customs Intelligence Department in Dubai Customs developed the initiative and devised methodologies and criteria that ensure its success. The initiative was highlighted at the 17th Annual Meeting of the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office - Middle East, held in Jeddah earlier this year, where participants agreed to meet in Dubai to discuss and approve an action plan and recommendations for the initiative,” Mr. Al Abdooli said.
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Mr. Saeed Al Tayer at the meeting on the Suspicious Cargo Initiative