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The GCC and the World Customs Organization signed an addendum to their existing memorandum of understanding in Brussels on October 16, 2026, the GCC Secretariat General said in a statement. Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, the GCC secretary-general, and Ian Saunders, the WCO secretary-general, inked the document during a ceremony in the Belgian capital. The step updates arrangements first put in place nine years earlier and aligns them with the operational responsibilities now exercised by the GCC Customs Union Authority, according to the GCC announcement.
The addendum specifies that the GCC Customs Union Authority will serve as the competent party for all matters involving cooperation, representation, communication, coordination and related issues in implementing the original memorandum, the statement explained. That original memorandum was signed on December 15, 2017, by the then-WCO secretary-general and the previous GCC secretary-general at WCO headquarters. A WCO announcement at the time said the 2017 agreement aimed to improve coordination on trade facilitation, customs modernization and regional economic development.
Both parties expressed hope that the addendum would strengthen ties between the GCC and the WCO, the GCC Secretariat General reported. Officials from the two organizations held a separate meeting on the sidelines of the signing ceremony. The discussion reviewed prospects for customs cooperation, ways to improve coordination mechanisms and opportunities for exchanging expertise, according to the statement.
Those talks focused on supporting GCC member states in developing their customs systems and advancing Gulf customs integration, the GCC Secretariat General said. The six-member bloc established its customs union in 2003 with the goal of eliminating internal tariffs and applying a common external tariff. Completing remaining requirements for the full customs union remains a priority for GCC leaders, as reaffirmed at their consultative summit in Jeddah in April 2026.
GCC-Stat figures show intra-GCC exports exceeded 177 billion dollars in 2025, recording 125 percent growth compared with 2007 levels. The same data place the GCC’s combined gross domestic product at 2.4 trillion dollars in 2025, making the bloc the world’s ninth-largest economy while the non-oil sector accounted for 79 percent of output. The WCO has pursued similar regional cooperation frameworks with other economic communities, including initiatives that promote capacity building and harmonized procedures to facilitate cross-border trade.
The WCO’s regional approach to capacity building seeks to share resources efficiently among neighboring countries to support economic growth, a WCO policy document states. In the GCC context, enhanced customs coordination is viewed as essential to realizing the full potential of the common market and boosting competitiveness. The addendum signed this week builds on that foundation by clarifying institutional responsibilities within the GCC framework.
