Sunday, August 22, 2010

US-Bahrain Customs Meeting Held

(Gulf Daily News)

Customs officials from Bahrain and the US met to discuss ways to further enhance the capability of Bahrain Customs to effectively implement all the aspects of the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

The officials from Bahrain Customs and the US Department of Commerce, US Customs and Border protection officials attended programmes that were organised and funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative under the Commercial Law Development Programme of the US Department of Commerce.

Phase I programme was conducted in Bahrain in June and phase II in Washington this month.

Phase I covered the overall aspects of “advance ruling”, which is one of the vital components of the FTA.

Phase II programme was an extension of Phase I and covered an in-depth understanding of all the specific sub-clauses of this aspect such as, valuation determination, regulatory audit, penalties, classification and determinations.

Further joint committee meetings are expected to be held between US and Bahrain officials soon.