Post-Clearance Audit Initiative
The Post-Clearance Audit Initiative is an initiative to stimulate the investment environment in business by distinguishing importers and exporters with services that support business operations and facilitate procedures professionally. It is one of the initiatives of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) within the national transformation to achieve Saudi Vision 2030.
Objectives of the Post-Clearance Audit Initiative
The initiative aims to contribute to making the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia one of the distinguished logistics centers in commercial fields globally, in addition to achieving added value for investors in the field of import and export to support and enhance the national economy by raising the competitiveness index among customs business partners.
The post-clearance audit is a type of examination dedicated to commercial laws, financial records, sales contracts, inventory, and all assets to measure and improve compliance with regulatory standards and requirements. It is a procedure applied globally in more than 160 member countries of the World Customs Organization to simplify and facilitate trade operations.
Post-Clearance Audit Initiative and intellectual property rights
The Post-Clearance Audit Initiative helps ensure the accuracy of financial figures for declared transactions and imported goods, in addition to verifying the comprehensiveness of prices for all financial payments, intellectual property rights, sales commissions, and designs. It also involves examining accounting records, work sites, and the systems of importers and exporters to ensure the completeness of customs data in accordance with the regulations in force in customs.
Through the initiative, it is ensured that goods subject to exceptional import and export controls have been properly disclosed, facilitating international trade and easing procedures for compliant importers. Additionally, it aims to develop cooperation between customs and those working in the import and export fields.
Features of the Post-Clearance Audit Initiative
Compliance with the customs requirements outlined in the initiative yields several benefits, including supporting clients with dedicated lanes at customs ports, granting them absolute priority in all customs procedures, and recommending the names of compliant institutions and companies to the Authorized Economic Operator Program. Furthermore, it allows for the clearance of consignments without the prior requirement of paying the necessary fees through bank credits, as well as reducing the samples subject to analysis and decreasing the percentage of manual inspection for goods belonging to compliant entities.