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Country Commercial Guides FY 1999: Oman

CHAPTER VI.  TRADE REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS

Companies which import goods or act as commercial agents in Oman
must fulfill the following principal conditions:

 -- They must be registered with the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry and with the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry;
-- Omani share-holding in the capital of the company must be at
least 51 pct.  The foreign partners percentage can be increased up
to 65 pct with the permission of the Minister of Commerce and
Industry, or up to 100 pct foreign ownership with the approval
of the Council of Ministers.    
-- The company's main purposes should include import trade and
commercial agency business.

Certain classes of goods require a special license; e.g., alcohol,
firearms, narcotics, and explosives.  Customs duties of 5% of
CIF value for most goods are charged.  Certain  essential consumer
goods and other items are exempted from  customs duty. Examples
include currency, gold and silver  bullion, seeds, fertilizers,
live plants, agricultural  implements and insecticides, books,
refined petroleum products, tea, and various foodstuffs.  Special
duties apply to alcoholic beverages, tobacco and pork products
(100 pct).  (In a move to combat smoking, Oman and other GCC
states increased duties on cigarettes from 50% to 75% in 1997 and
will further increase duties to 100%.)  The government reserves
the right to impose duties of 10 to 50 % on some items in order
to protect nascent domestic industries.  The entire issue of
tariffs and duties will be affected by Oman's entry into the WTO,
slated for January, 2000.  With a few exceptions, goods produced
in other GCC countries enter duty free if accompanied by certifi-
cates of origin.  All media imports are subject to censorship;
e.g., the Ministry of National Heritage and Cultures may reject
or expunge morally or politically sensitive material from imported
videos.  The Ministry of Information delays or bars the entry of
magazines and newspaper editions if it takes exception to a story
on Oman or deems the content morally suspect. 

Oman has no general provisions for the temporary entry of goods.
In the case of auto re-exports, a company can import vehicles into
the country for the purpose of re-export and have duties refunded
if it re-exports the vehicle in six months. There are no free trade
zones, although the concept has been raised in official circles
over the past year.  The government has set aside land along an
interior border crossing point with Yemen by the name of
al-Mazyounah for a free trade zone.  The private sector is pro-
moting the idea of a free trade zone adjacent to the port of Raysut,
to complement the international container transshipment port set
to open there in November 1998.

The GCC summit in December 1996 failed to agree on a common
tariff policy, but the issue remains under active discussion.
Common GCC labeling standards do exist.  The labels of imported
goods should be printed in Arabic and English although some English-
labeled items are sold in the market.  For packaged food products,
the date of manufacture and the expiration date should be over-
printed on the label or elsewhere on the container.  Stick on
tape printed production and expiration dates are not acceptable.
U.S. industry considers Omani shelf life limits to be more
restrictive than scientifically necessary.  Major slaughter houses
in the U.S. are able to offer Halal supervision. Halal and health
certificates for food imports have to be notarized by both the
National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce and the Omani Embassy in
Washington or an Omani consulate. 

[end of document]

Note* International Copyright, United States Government, 1998 (or other year of first publication). All rights under foreign copyright laws are reserved. All portions of this publication are protected against any type or form of reproduction, communications to the public and the preparation of adaptations, arrangement and alterations outside the United States. U. S. copyright is not asserted under the U.S. Copyright Law, Title 17, United States Code.

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