Passengers arriving in Saudi Arabia now required to declare possessions

RIYADH: Anyone now landing in Saudi Arabia is required to declare their personal purchases or gifts, so that if the value of their possessions exceeds SR3,000 or an equivalent in foreign currency they will pay related custom duty, authorities have confirmed.

Also, the zakat, tax and customs authority of the Kingdom has urged travellers arriving in or departing from the kingdom to present a signed undertaking of whatever possession they have that can be of the monetary value of SR60,000 or above.

Such possessions can be banknotes, jewellery or precious items valued at about SR60,000 and above.

On the other hand, the new set of instructions rolled out recently, the government has said that people carrying items that are deemed prohibited or restricted as per Saudi rules, including cigarettes and tobacco, are required to declare them before boarding.

They can declare their such possession via an app for travellers or the authority’s official website, customs.gov.sa

It may be noted that the first time offenders failing to make the declaration or providing the wrong information will be liable to punishment by a fine of 25 per cent of the value of the seized contrabands or cash money.

In the same way, the fine increases to reach 50 per cent of the value in case of repeat offence, provided the seized items are not linked to a suspected crime or money laundering.