Tax Alert : GCC Countries Implement The GCC Integrated Customs Tariff

In December 2024, the GCC Customs Union Authority issued the first edition of the GCC Integrated Customs Tariff to be implemented from 1 January 2025 by all GCC member states, i.e. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The GCC Integrated Customs Tariff is based on the 2022 edition of the Harmonized System for Description and Classification (HS). The HS is a multipurpose international product nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO), whose main objectives are to:

a. Facilitate international trade and the collection, comparison, and analysis of statistics by harmonizing the description, classification, and coding of goods in international trade;