ASEZA boosts Aqaba Port capabilities by minimising container clearance time

AMMAN — ASEZA’s new Customs Centre, owned by Aqaba Development Corporation and managed by Aqaba Port Management Company, has put Aqaba Port on a par with the best ports in the world by decreasing the clearance time of imported containers’ from five days to two days, according to a statement from the Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) on Thursday. 

The average time for waiting and clearance process for a container decreased from 15 days to nine days at the end of 2016, whereas both the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) and Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) “aspire to reach the international best practice standards for dwell times of three days” the statement said.

“Based on a recent time study conducted by customs; five days were needed to gathering shipping documents, this lead us to a conclusion that decreasing the dwell time depends on the level of cooperation and coordination among the traders, clearing agents and the shipping agent. This process of gathering shipping documents such as bill of loading and delivery order is needed before starting the customs procedures, which start at the time of submitting customs declaration attached by these documents.”  

The New Customs Centre has 44 customs inspection ramps with productivity capacity in average of 220 to 250 containers per day, the statement said. 

ADC started expansion of these ramps to reach 68 ramps in two months in order to increase the capacity as well as decreasing the dwell time of containers.. 

In order to reach container dwell time of three days, the ADC study revealed that using the pre-clearance application would enhance and positively impact the improvement of the dwell time.

 Promoting this application is highly needed through conducting workshops or meetings with traders and clearing agents, the statement added. 

A report by the Transportation and Logistics Department indicated that the cost of handling goods decreased by around JD 14 million, since the New Customs Centre opened, which has “a positive impact on the cost of importing goods to Jordanand improving the supply chain of containers”. 

The report also showed that relocating of customs inspection from Aqaba Containers Terminal (ACT) to the new Customs Centre positively affected performance indicators in the supply chain and transport. 

The most important indicator, the statement said,is removing the interplay between handling, inspection and storage requirements at ACT, as the new customs centre contributed to freeing ACT’s area for development and increasing the capacity for storage, handling and maneuvering.

Major achievements resulting from the steps taken to ease clearance procedures and activating simultaneous inspection include increasing the quantity and quality of inspection, in addition to limiting smuggling operations and ensuring the quality of imported goods.

According to ADC’s report, full imported containers numbers increased from 377,995 to 398,914 marking an increase of 5.5 per cent. Full containers dwell time decreased from 12.7 days to 7.2 days with an improvement of 43 per cent, while throughput volume at ACT increased by 4.6 per cent.

In a year of operation, the New Custom Centre has generated JD 5 million in revenues, 270 direct jobs and 150 in indirect employment, according to the statement.