Kuwait heads Arab custom meeting in Cairo

The fourth meeting of the Arab League committee on fnformation and customs procedures started at the league's headqarters here Sunday. The three-day meeting will discuss the issue of certificates of origin and models of seals and signatures of the client as part of the Greater Free Trade Area, a Kuwait General Administration of Custom official told KUNA. The meeting will also converse on possible alternatives in case of failure to establish a planned Arab Customs Union by 2015, Raed Mathkour said. For his part, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs of the Arab League, Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al-Tuwaijri said in a press statement that the meeting will implement development mechanism in the framework of the Arab Customs Union and issues of the Greater Free Trade Area through standardization of procedures and custom forms in Arab member states custom administrations. The meeting will also discuss mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of information and electronic connection among Arab custom centers as well as evaluation and follow-up for non-tariff barriers, he noted. He stressed the importance of developing unified Arab guidelines to avoid customs barriers.