Ports and Customs Authority Issues Instructions for Settlement of Customs Violations

President Ahmed Al-Shara issued two decrees appointing new assistants to the President of the General Authority for Ports and Customs, in conjunction with the Authority's issuance of executive instructions to settle a number of customs violations committed before December 2024.

According to Decree No. 118,  Tamim Ibrahim Sawaghi was appointed as Assistant to the President of the General Authority for Ports and Customs for Ports Affairs, while Decree No. 119 stipulated the appointment of Wassim Abdel Hamid Al-Mansour as Assistant to the Chairman of the Authority for Financial and Administrative Affairs.

New Port Director

In a separate decision bearing No. 47, the General Authority for Ports and Customs appointed Naji Ahmed Abdeen as Director General of the General Directorate of Ports.

These decisions and appointments come as part of the steps to reorganize and manage the customs and ports sector in Syria, amid repeated official talk about fighting corruption, strengthening oversight, and restructuring economic and administrative institutions.

Executive Instructions for the Decree on the Settlement of Customs Violations

The General Authority for Ports and Customs issued the executive instructions for Decree No. 117 of 2026, which grants broad exemptions for customs violations committed before December 8, 2024, including fines, fees, and taxes resulting therefrom.

The executive instructions stipulated that violations related to goods that survived the seizure will be exempted from fees and fines in full, while the fees collected for the rest of the violations will be transferred to the public treasury, with their owners exempted from the fine of the Central Bank of Syria.

The  mechanism for submitting settlement requests through the Customs Department or the Customs Control Directorates has been determined, while allowing the acceptance of an undertaking in the absence of a final judicial ruling in the case.

The instructions included the return of the  goods and means of transport seized to their owners after settlement, with the application of the economic status of the goods on the date of settlement, except in cases where they were previously sold, destroyed, or destroyed before the issuance of the decree. It also stipulates the lifting of precautionary measures and the closure of customs cases after the completion of the settlement procedures.

The instructions excluded violations  related to drug cases, and violations for which final judgments were issued before the issuance of the decree, in addition to the violations that were previously settled, in addition to the formation of specialized committees in the police directorates to follow up on the implementation of the decree and document the records, provided that the instructions are published in the official gazette and come into force from the date of their issuance.