Bahrain is to cut tariffs on consumer goods and imported cars by 2003, two years before the deadline set by the Gulf Co-operation Council, following an agreement to lower duties at the GCC Summit in Riyadh in November 1999, according Bahrain Tribune Monday.
The paper said that a decision issued by the Prime Minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa on lowering customs tariffs on all goods, complements an earlier decision taken on January 2nd, 2000, to abolish customs duties on foodstuffs and lower tariffs on clothes, electronic items, communication tools, electronic calculators, and printing and publishing goods from 10 to 7.5 percent.
Duties on some essential goods will be slashed from 10 percent to 5.5 percent by the end of 2003, a statement from the Ministry of Finance and National Economy said Sunday, cited the paper.
In their agreement, the daily said, the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council said that they would have common tariffs of 5.5 on essential goods and 7.5 percent on the other goods from March 2005 -- Albawaba.com
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