Amendments in the Yemeni customs decree to cope with the Gulf states

Yemen has said it is discussing the amendment of customs tariffs levels to approach levels applied by the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The Yemeni prime minister Abdul Qader Abdul Rahman Bajmal said that his country is searching to impose a new rate of customs tariffs between 8 to 10 percent instead of the current rate between 5% to 30%.

He added that Yemen can not live isolated from the Arab Peninsula and the GCC and that his policy should cope with the policies of its neighbors in order to achieve a partnership.

The six GCC leaders in December 2001 approved Yemen to join the GCC sport, labor, educational and health establishments. A matter which is considered a step forward for Yemen's gradual joining to the GCC.

The GCC which was founded in 1981 and includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, to found the customs federation by the fall of 2003, adopted a rate of a customs tariffs between 4 to 15%.