Semalka Customs Hike Claims Denied in Syria

Mazen Alloush, director of public relations at Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports, said reports circulating about higher customs duties on goods at the Semalka border crossing in al-Hasakah governorate, northeastern Syria, are “inaccurate to date.” He told Enab Baladi on Saturday, April 11, that conditions at the crossing remain unchanged and that no notable changes have been made so far.

Work is currently underway to integrate the crossing into the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports’ operating system, according to Alloush, in preparation for implementing the unified customs tariff used at all Syrian border crossings.

Source in Semalka: New Customs System Tomorrow

Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports’ response to Enab Baladi came after a report published by Arta Radio on its Facebook page.

The radio quoted a source from the customs office at the Semalka crossing as saying a new customs system is scheduled to take effect on Sunday, April 12, a step that could bring broad changes to trade flows and prices. The source said the new system is based on a special application used by Syria’s transitional government called “Mansiq,” which is set to officially enter service on that date and replace the application currently used by the Autonomous Administration.

The source added that the new application includes major increases in customs duties, with some items rising tenfold per ton. Under the reported changes:

• customs on one ton of rice would rise from about $13 to $27,
• duties on one ton of vegetable oil would increase from $20 to about $250,
• customs on one ton of flour would rise from $11 to $53,
• One ton of sugar would increase from $13 to $53.

The source added that about 3,000 different goods would all be subject to a new tariff under the expected system, pointing to sweeping changes in the customs fee structure.

The source also said the customs cost for a full truckload of fruit and vegetables, previously estimated at $200, would rise to several thousand dollars under the new system, signaling a sharp expected increase in import costs and possible repercussions for local markets, according to the source’s remarks to the radio.

Semalka Rehabilitation and Development Underway

At the end of March, Khaled al-Barad, deputy head of Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports, conducted an inspection tour of the Semalka border crossing in al-Hasakah governorate as part of efforts to complete the procedures needed to bring it into the authority’s operating framework.

According to the authority, al-Barrad was accompanied by a delegation of central directorate officials during the visit, which reviewed: the state of work at the crossing, the level of technical and administrative readiness, rehabilitation and development needs, and the organization of transit movement and improvement of procedures in line with standards applied at Syria’s other border crossings.

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