Abu Dhabi International Airport Customs Center links the United Arab Emirates to the outside world. It is currently undergoing expansion to receive more millions passengers and large quantities of cargo.

Abu Dhabi Airport - Customs Center consists of two main sections, namely, the Cargo section and Arrivals section. The Cargo section contains the warehousing section and Cargo Village section. The Arrivals section contains Terminal (1) and Terminal (2).

The Cargo section handles all operations relating to the goods coming to and going out from Abu Dhabi Airport. These operations are carried out by the Customs clearing section that collects Customs duties, fees and deposits in cooperation with the inspection section and the shifts section that works 24 hours.

The export section carries out all export procedures including the registration of exported shipments, collection of export duties, issue of their data and examination and inspection of goods exported for repair and return or for exhibitions. The procedures are carried out through the Abu Dhabi Customs clearing system that issue the export and import data electronically.

Cargo companies dealing with the Abu Dhabi International Airport Customs Center number around (40). The average annual number of passengers is 1,233,751 according to 2005 statistics. Monthly flights number 322 (three hundred and twenty two).

Restricted and Prohibited Goods:

Passengers arriving in the United Arab Emirates are required to be aware that there are identified restricted and prohibited goods. These include but are not limited to:

§     Any kind of narcotics.

§     Any kind of firearms and ammunition, without a prior security approval.

§     Any kind of immoral or sexually explicit materials.

§     Any goods contrary to the regulations relating to the protection of commercial, industrial, moral, copyright, or artistic property in respect of which decisions are issued by competent authorities.

Duty-Free purchasing

Incoming passengers are exempted from Customs duties from the Abu Dhabi Airport Duty Free, and within the following limitations:

§     4 liters of alcohol or 24 cans of beer

§     400 cigarettes or a quantity equivalent to AED 2,000

§     Cigars equivalent in value to AED 3,000

§     2 kg of tobacco

§     Gifts and perfume equivalent in value to AED 3,000

Passengers may not carry money in excess of AED 40,000 or its equivalent in a foreign currency and they are required to declare amounts in excess of this to Customs.

Working Hours

Management

The Abu Dhabi International Airport Customs Center works during official working hours from 8.00 a.m. till 2.30 p.m. all weekdays except the weekends on Fridays and Saturdays and days of official holidays.

Other sections

These apply a shift system 24x7.

§     Cargo Village – Cargo Section – Terminal (1) and Terminal (2) divide their working hours to three shifts:

-    Morning Shift: From 8.00 a.m. till 2.00 p.m.

-    Evening Shift: From 2.00 p.m. till 10.00 p.m.

-    Night Shift: From 10.00 p.m. till 8.00 a.m.

§         The Collection Section of Abu Dhabi Airport works in two shifts:

-          Morning Shift: From 8.00 a.m. till 2.00 p.m.

-          Evening Shift: From 2.00 p.m. till 8.00 p.m.

§         The Inspection Section of Abu Dhabi Airport works during the morning period only from 8.00 a.m. till 2.00 p.m.

Clearance Offices at Abu Dhabi Airport - Customs Centre

There are (11) clearance offices at Abu Dhabi Airport - Customs Centre, and many other branches in Abu Dhabi. These offices are mainly concerned with completion of customs clearance processes for goods according to formal authorizations. Customs authorized agents are empowered to act on behalf of the importer / exporter to handle transactions clearance at the Customs Department. The following comprises examples of existing agents:

Address

Director

 Mr. Abdullah Hassan Al Alkeem Al Zo’abi