By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Some products ordered from abroad cannot be delivered to your doorstep. If you order banned items, food supplements, some skincare products, medicines, precious stones or jewelry, or other products that need approval of the health ministry, the shipping company is unable to deliver the shipment to the client's address, who will be obliged to personally go to the customs department at the airport.

The health ministry, Public Authority for Industry and other public institutions have offices at the airport customs department. "For regular products that need special approval, the shipping company clerk can complete the procedures at the customs through the offices of these authorities and the client will receive the shipment. But some shipments include prohibited materials or unfamiliar items, and in this case the shipment gets held at the customs," a customs inspector named Meshaal told Kuwait Times.

"The shipment will be held at the customs department for 40 days waiting for its owner to come and pick it. If they don't come, the package will be transferred to the customs warehouse to be either sold through auction or destroyed. The revenue from the sold items will cover the daily fees charged by the customs department for holding the shipment," he explained.

The auction is mostly held for larger items. "Usually, small personal parcels are damaged and not worth selling in an auction. The auction is held on Wednesdays, and it's usually for large shipments, especially commercial ones that weigh 50 or 60 tons," Meshaal said.

About 90 percent of consumer products are damaged. "Mostly these items get spoiled or expire, such as food, skincare, etc. Also, if the goods are banned, such as counterfeits, they will most likely be destroyed. In some cases, they may be sent back to the country of origin - this is usually for Turkish products. If a small personal shipment includes fake branded items, it may be released," he added. Customs fees for personal shipments worth below KD 100 were recently waived.