This guide presents the statutory path for objecting to customs decisions, from identifying the decision and the statutory deadline, to electronic filing, and the settlement or litigation that follows a grievance before the customs dispute-settlement committees. The content is based on the Customs Law, the committees' rules of procedure, and published official sources.
This path covers decisions to collect customs duties, fine decisions, decisions concerning the value, classification and origin of goods, and decisions rejecting refund requests. Penalties prescribed for smuggling offences follow different procedures and require separate review.
Articles 147 to 149 of the Customs Law provide for thirty days to object to collection decisions and to file a grievance against fine decisions, while Article 5 of the committees' rules of procedure provides for sixty days to grieve against an Authority decision. To avoid missing the deadline, the shorter period is adopted unless the description of the decision and the text of the notification are verified.
The grievance is filed electronically through the Fasah platform and the customs objections service of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority. The decision's details are entered, a grievance memorandum setting out its grounds and requests is uploaded, supporting documents are attached, and the request number and submission date are retained for follow-up.
The committees' rules of procedure provide that the Authority must decide the grievance within ninety days of the date it was filed. In the event of rejection, partial acceptance, or the lapse of this period without a decision, the grievant has thirty days to request settlement before the internal committee or to file a claim before the competent adjudication circuit.
A grievance does not suspend enforcement of final decisions to collect customs duties and fines, unless security is provided for the amounts claimed in the form of a bank guarantee or cash deposit, pursuant to Article 7 of the committees' rules of procedure. Calculations follow the Gregorian calendar, and periods are counted as calendar days beginning the day after the triggering event.
FAQ
These include decisions to collect customs duties, fine decisions, decisions concerning the value, classification or origin of goods, and decisions rejecting refund requests, as set out in the Customs Law and the committees' rules of procedure.
The grievance is filed electronically through the customs objections service of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and through the Fasah platform, together with a grievance memorandum and supporting documents.
Within thirty days of the day following notification of rejection or partial acceptance, the grievant may request referral of the grievance to the internal settlement committee or file a direct claim before the competent adjudication circuit.
You may send a copy of the decision, the notification, and the date of receipt for review of its standing in relation to the statutory deadlines and to determine the appropriate path. Please avoid including sensitive data in the first message.
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