DISPLAYING ITEMS BY TAG: HS Code

Dubai Customs is pleased to announce that Mirsal system has now been enhanced, effective from 1st Oct, 2023, related to Antidumping functionalities, including automatic calculation, smooth collection, tracking, refund, accounting and transfer of Antidumping and Safeguard charges.

Following are the key features developed in Mirsal system in this regard.
•    Introduce Antidumping Tariff Master to configure and setup HS Codes, tariff rates and calculation methods based on Origin/Exporter Countries and Manufacturer/Exporter combinations.
•    Identify and auto-calculate antidumping and safeguard charges, wherever applicable, during submission of declarations. Thus, manual calculation of these charges by CDM is now no longer required and will be discontinued.
•    Facilitate collection of these newly introduced charges through all standard collection modes currently available to customers in Mirsal system.
•    Provide facility of claim submission for these new charges, resulting in verification and approval of refund settlements on these charges. Further, forfeiture and waiver functionalities are also introduced for these charges if claim is not submitted within stipulated time.
•    Enable Post clearance audit system to conduct audit and raise short collection demand notice on these new charges, if any, during the course of audit.
•    Provide facility in Finance system to realize actual collection, refund, waiving of antidumping and safeguard charges and to post these charges to separate GL accounts for easy tracking, reporting and transfer to Ministry of Economy as per agreed shared percentage.   

Further to Dubai Customs Notice no. (10/2025), the flexibility period indicated for the implementation of the first phase i.e Customs declarations whose destination is a GCC Country, applicable until February 2026, is the option to use 8-digit HS codes both of 12-digit HS codes.

By no means does this permit the use of 12-digit codes for trade flows outside the GCC or for any other trade flows that are not yet permitted as demonstrated under Paragraph 2. The trade flows in which 12 digits may be used are mentioned in Paragraph 3, based on the phases mentioned in Customs Notice 10/2025.

1. This flexibility does not mean that 12-digit HS Codes can be used for every declaration.
2. In the current flexibility period, 12-digit HS codes cannot be used for:

• Free Zone in/out other than GCC
• Movements between Dubai Free Zones
• Transshipments
• Transit Trade
• Transfers within Free Zones
• Local Exports to the Rest of the World

Note:

• The above are exempted from the application of the integrated customs tariff (12-digit classification) i.e not part of the phased approach and the 8-digit codes will continue to apply.
• The flexibility does not extend to using 12-digit HS codes where they have not yet been allowed, for example using 12-digit codes for the above listed declarations.

        3. Currently, 12-digit codes shall only be exclusively used for trades permitted under Phase 1 which includeGCC Trade.

        4.The implementation of 12-digit HS Codes is being carried out in phases as below:

• Phase 1 (Aug 2025 – Feb 2026)

Only GCC-destined shipments are expected to transition to the new 12-digit HS Code.  However, for flexibility during the first six months, traders are permitted to use either  the 8-digit or 12-digit HS Code. This phase also introduces rules around importer codes and conditional applicability for different trade flows which can be found in the annexes to Customs Notice 10 of 2025.

• Phase 2 (Feb2026 – Aug 2026)

The flexibility of Phase 1 ends and the use of 12-digit HS Codes becomes mandatory for GCC trade. Additionally, the requirement is expanded to include imports from Free Zones and Customs Warehouses into the local market.

• Phase 3 (Aug 2026 – Feb 2027)

The requirement to apply 12-digit HS codes is extended to cover imports from the rest of the world (RoW) into both the local market and the GCC.

• Phase 4 (from Feb 2027 onwards)

The application of 12-digit HS codes is further extended to cover temporary flows destined for the GCC. Shipments destined for Free Zones, however, remain permanently exempt and will continue using the 8-digit HS Code.

Any use of 12-digit codes outside these 4 permitted trades would be violative of Customs Notice 10/2025 and may attract appropriate penalties.

In line with our commitment to continuously enhance our processes and improve efficiency to our valued customers, and align with the Dubai Customs regulations, we have modified the Manifest system to accept eight-digit HS codes used globally.

Therefore, we kindly request you to submit eight-digit valid HS codes in Manifest files. This will help us gain data accuracy and identify cargo types including perishable goods well in advance to speed up the process of container clearance at the terminals.

The new change will be effective from the 1st of April, 2020.

In reference to the ‘Eight Digit HS Codes in Manifest’ circular (DPW/233/2019) issued on the 5th of January 2020, please note that we have postponed the implementation date to the 1 st of June 2020 to support our customers navigate through this time of Coronavirus (COVID19).

Therefore, we request all Shipping Lines/Agents to develop their systems and submit Eight Digit valid HS Codes by the 1st of June 2020.

The Container Export Booking procedures have been updated for shipments received from Shipping Lines/Agents.

Effective from October 15, 2023, shipping lines are required to provide the following information when submitting container export bookings through Dubai Trade and/or B2B integration via EDI:

•    Shipper Code and Name
•    HS code and description for the commodities packed inside the container

The above information is required to ensure the accuracy and safety of the transported commodities. All customers are requested to adhere to these specifications to support our safety protocols.