Steps to curb smuggling of state ration food commodities from Kuwait

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KUWAIT CITY, May 3: The concerned government agencies have been waging a war for years to prevent organized gang networks from working on depleting state-subsidized food commodities and smuggling them abroad, and to take more stringent punitive measures with smugglers and agencies that assist or facilitate smuggling operations, reports Al-Qabas daily.

According to official sources from the General Administration of Customs, customs officers succeeded in seizing about 500 loads containing tens of thousands of food supplies during the year 2022. They included about 200,000 food packages, some of which were being smuggled abroad through the land ports.

They stressed that attempts by some individuals and shipping companies to smuggle these materials to neighboring countries or some Arab and Asian countries have increased significantly in recent periods, amid high vigilance of customs officers and the rest of the relevant authorities.

The sources described the efforts made by the customs supervisors on the ground as “great”, given that they curb dozens of attempts to smuggle supplies and other prohibited materials and money through various land and even air ports every day.

They explained that smugglers devise many ways daily to smuggle food supplies, such as emptying them into transparent plastic containers or placing them inside electrical appliances. Some others try to distribute them to a number of personal vehicles, as part of their miserable attempts to get them out of the country.

The quantities seized during the past year, which exceeded 200,000 subsidized commodities, are distributed over five main types – rice, flour, milk, pasta, and cooking oil.

Cooking oil and milk are the most prominent commodities targeted by smugglers and the largest in size when seized.

The total value of the materials seized annually exceeds one million dinars. The General Administration of Customs issues seizure reports in this regard according to urgent instructions, and refers them to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to take the necessary action regarding them and protect them from damage.

In view of the many attempts to smuggle subsidized supplies out of the country in violation of the law, the Director General of General Administration of Customs Suleiman Al-Fahad issued instructions in September to raise the fine for violating customs smuggling to three times the value, which is the maximum according to the Unified Customs Law.

According to the administration’s reports, customs inspectors made 500 seizures last year, including food supplies and other illegal items that were being attempted for smuggling abroad.

Customs sources explained that the highest rate of attempts to smuggle food supplies is made through the Sulaibiya and Shubra al-Khader customs outlets, where 226 commercial smuggling attempts were seized during the past year, which is an increase from the 197 attempts made in the year 2021.

The subsidized food items that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry provides to citizens on a monthly basis are considered to be of distinct nutritional and financial value and are competitive with those offered in cooperative societies and parallel markets. Some take advantage of the state’s support for 74 different commodities, and they smuggle them abroad to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and other countries. It is popular in the markets and offered at prices that are four times the subsidized price.

For example, the value of a bag of Kuwaiti subsidized rice (weighing 50 kg) in the Saudi market amounts to 350 Saudi Riyals (KD 28.62), while it is bought in Kuwait for only KD 6 (74 Saudi Riyals). One kilogram of it is sold for 8 riyals, while Kuwait offers it to the beneficiaries for only 1.4 riyals.

As for milk powder, Kuwait provides it to its beneficiary citizens at a value of KD 1,050, while it is sold in the Saudi market for 60 riyals (about KD 5), which constitutes more than three times the real purchase price.

Numbers and data from the ration card system –

• 2.1 million registered in the ration card system
• KD 210 million annual cost to cover supplies
• 49 percent of the population benefits from the catering system

In this regard, the Head of the Consumer Protection Department Mishaal Al-Mana called for tougher penalties for smugglers of subsidized food supplies and those who help them smuggle them abroad.

He stressed the need to increase vigilance and complete auditing and inspection at land outlets.

Al-Manea said, “The blame for the supply distribution operations is firstly with the cooperative societies, as they did not benefit from the experience of the Kuwaiti retirees and did not employ them to control the supply management. Failing to allocate a reasonable salary to workers in the supply department is one of the reasons for the decline in oversight, in addition to the citizens who benefit from the supply have been assigning others to obtain the rations without checking the quantities spent and the extent of the real need.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has an automated system for the supply of goods and exchange, but the main problem is in how to control and tighten it, as there must be a balance between the administrative part and the commercial value and control of the volume of exchange, through internal control and educating the person concerned to attend to obtain shares and verify the value of payments.”

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