KUWAIT CITY, Jan 29: Documents from oversight bodies affirmed that the General Administration of Customs failed to refer more than 170 containers, more than 100 types of goods, and 31 vehicles from the customs centers to Beit Al-Mal public auction after exceeding the storage period of 90 days, reports Al-Shahid Daily According to the documents, these goods were stored in various storage yards of the customs for more than eight years, occupying a huge area of the customs storage facilities and losing the income that such facilities would have generated. Majority of the goods can no longer be sold, which is a clear violation of the articles of the relevant law and Ministry of Finance’s resolutions in this regard.

The documents also show that various goods have been found stored inside salon vehicles and half-lorries inside the containers in Shuwaikh Port for more than seven years. Also, one of the companies is being accused of not paying custom duties worth about KD 1.962 million for the goods it imported, as well as fines which range from minimum of KD 3.924 million to maximum of KD 42.534 million. Officials from the relevant authorities stressed the need for the General Administration of Customs to enforce the oversight regulations, and follow-up and inspection procedures on imported goods, and ensure the importers provide the country-of-origin documents due to repeated cases of evasion to pay customs duties on gold crafts from one of the GCC countries throughout the past five years despite the fact that the case is in the courts.