How Qatar Customs Officials Inspect Goods and Investigates Smuggling
- 3 years ago
Based on the Customs Legal Actions published by the General Authority of Customs on its website, here are the rules and responsibilities of Customs officers in inspecting goods and investigation of smuggling:
Article 120
Customs officers shall combat smuggling. To this effect, they are authorized to inspect the goods, the means of transport and to search persons under the provisions herein and the other applicable Laws. The body search of women shall be conducted only by a female inspector. In the event there are adequate evidences of the presence of contraband and after obtaining permission from the Competent Authority, the customs officers shall be entitled to inspect any house, store or shop according to the applicable Laws.
Customs officers shall not be held responsible for the damages resulting from the proper performance of their jobs.
Article 121
In their capacity as judicial officers, authorized customs officers shall have the right to get aboard the vessels anchoring in the local ports or those entering or leaving such ports and to stay aboard until the cargo is unloaded and they may inspect all parts of the vessel.
Article 122
In their capacity as judicial officers, authorized customs officers shall have the right to get aboard the vessels in the Customs Zone for inspection or presentation of the cargo Manifest and the other required documents under the provisions herein; when refraining from producing such documents or in the absence of such documents and when contraband or prohibited goods are suspected to be concealed, Customs officers may take all necessary measures to seize such goods and shall lead the vessel to the nearest Customs Administration.
Article 123
The Department may take the appropriate actions for investigating and detecting smuggling inside and outside the Customs Administration according to the rules laid down by the Authority.
Article 124
Investigation of smuggling, seizure of goods and proving customs offences may be conducted on all goods within the territories of the State in the following areas:
1- In the Customs Zones.
2- At the Customs Administrations, seaports, airports and all the places subject to customs control.
3- Beyond the customs zones when continuously tracking smuggled goods that have been witnessed within the zone in a situation that obviously indicates that they are intended to be smuggled
Article 125
In their capacity as judicial officers, customs officers shall be entitled to have access to the papers, documents, records, correspondence, commercial contracts and instruments whatsoever, directly or indirectly relating to the customs operations, and to seize them when offences are found out, which shall be done at the premises of the shipping and transportation companies and the natural and legal persons involved in customs operations. Such companies and persons shall keep all the aforesaid documents for a period of five years from the date of completion of the customs operations.
Article 126
In their capacity as judicial officers, customs officers may detain any person suspected to have committed or attempted to commit a smuggling offence or involved in committing, transporting of contraband or acquisition thereof
Chapter Two: Seizure report
Article 127
When the offences and crimes of customs smuggling are detected, a seizure report shall be made by at least two customs officers of the Department staff. It may be made by one customs officer when necessary.
Article 128
The seizure report shall contain the following details:
- The place, date and hour in letters and figures it is prepared.
- Names of the customs officers who had detected the offence and those who had prepared the seizure report, signatures thereon, and the nature of their jobs.
- Names of the offenders or those responsible for smuggling, their nationalities, characteristics, occupations and detail addresses.
- Seized goods, kinds and quantities thereof, their value and tariff heading, place, date and hour of seizure.
- Detailed facts, statements of the offenders or the individuals responsible for smuggling and statements of witnesses, if any.
- An indication in the seizure report that it has been recited to the offenders or those involved in smuggling who had approved it by signing thereon; or refused to do so.
- All the other useful documents and the presence or absence of the offenders or those involved in smuggling when making inventory of the goods.
- Referring samples of the seized contraband to the competent authorities for verification of prohibited materials.
- Identifying the Authority to which contraband has been delivered and taking an acknowledgement of receipt.
- Identifying the security entity to which the smugglers has been delivered and the hour and date of delivery.
Article 129
The seizure report prepared according to the preceding two Articles shall be a proof of the material facts that have been seen by the customs officers who had prepared the seizure report, unless proved otherwise.
The formal deficiency in the seizure report shall not cause such report to be null and may not be returned to the customs officers who had prepared the report unless such deficiency is relating to material facts.
Article 130
The Customs Administration may detain the goods subject of offence or smuggling and the other items used for concealment as well as the means of transport whatsoever i.e. boats, vehicles and animals excluding vessels, aircraft and public buses intended for the transport of passengers, unless they are specially designed for smuggling purposes.
Article 131
Smuggled goods or those attempted to be smuggled such as narcotic drugs and the like shall be disposed of according to the laws in force.
Source: General Authority of Customs Qatar
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