As the State of Qatar completes preparations to receive football fans from all over the world, every government and private institutions have worked over the years to have a role in these preparations as Qatar hosts the first FIFA World Cup ever in the Middle East and in an Arab country.
Given the importance of the event for Qatar, everyone is keen to ensure the success of this unique tournament. For instance, as part of its national contribution to the preparations for the World Cup, the General Authority of Customs (GAC) launched a Sports Events Management System in April to facilitate customs procedures during sporting events, the most important of which is the World Cup. The platform provides many electronic services for the clearance of goods with easy registration, and accelerated customs procedures. The service will achieve its most important goals during the 2022 World Cup.
The Customs Authority is one of the institutions that is working vigorously, recognising its essential role in protecting the gateways into the country. The GAC is tightening controls on entry points through its land and sea borders and airports to protect citizens and residents by combating smuggling and preventing the entry of prohibited materials into the country.
The Authority has foiled several smuggling attempts of prohibited materials such as prohibited tobacco, methamphetamine, lyrica, narcotics, and hashish, despite the ever-evolving nature of smuggling operations.
The Maritime Customs Administration of the Authority at Hamad Port recently thwarted an attempt to smuggle 7337.5 kg of prohibited tobacco in a container carrying water heating devices. The materials were secretly packed in cartons.
In appreciation of the Authority's efforts and support for the Ministry of Public Health “Food Safety Department" they launched the electronic food safety system (Wathiq), which is one of the important national projects for managing the food control process within Qatar through a well-structured system. Wathiq system includes three overlapping electronic systems for the control of imported food, local food control and laboratory analysis based on risk analysis to ensure the highest possible level of food safety, and based on international best practices in this field.
It is essential to recognise the efforts of all the institutions work round the clock to protect society, public safety, and health and ensure stability. For the GAC, this is a role they are committed which they reiterate in their vigilance at entry and exit points in Qatar.
