The new policy obligates companies to be bound to registration requirements, due to the fact that the companies that desire to engage in e-commerce activity must register and add the activity in the registration system of the General Administration of Abu Dhabi Customs’ Licensing Dept., plus adding the same in the trade license, while the licensed and registered logistics companies are permitted to clear goods provided that their customers shall be registered with Customs Licensing Department.
Similarly, the companies that desire to obtain the privileges set out in this policy must obtain a customs registration number, while e-commerce companies must establish distribution centers for goods intended for sale through their electronic platforms to ascertain meeting the conditions prescribed by distribution centers.
Likewise, the companies shall be bound to provide separate and designated places for storing goods of outstanding charges for which customs duties have already been paid in distribution centers.
E-commerce policy has set a set of controls and provisions including exempting electronic purchases through firms’ sales platforms “goods and imports for personal purposes” whose value does not exceed AED 1,000.00 AED pursuant to the provisions and controls stipulated in the Unified Guide of Customs Procedures at GCC for postal parcels and express shipping companies.
Likewise, corporations are also be granted the advantage of organizing a unified import statement for a set of shipments “consolidated data” so that value of a shipment does not exceed AED (5,000/-) and not less than AED (1000), while the total value shall be AED (50,000/-) for all shipments at one statement, provided that a number of shipments does not exceed (50) shipments, excluding the restricted goods.
The newly created online commerce policy prohibits the entry of a number of goods into the distribution centers, which are “flammable goods except for fuels, in addition to radioactive materials, military weapons, ammunition and explosives of any kind.”
The policy also prohibits the entry of goods that are inconsistent with the regulations relative to the protection of intellectual, commercial, industrial, literary, and artistic property, in addition to drugs of all and different types and kinds and their derivatives, added to the goods originating in a country that has been decided to be economically boycotted, as well as the goods prohibited from entering customs union or that do exist in the country of final destination and transit.
Source: Abu Dhabi Government Media Office