Q & A - Business RegistrationBusiness Policy in Qatar

Agencies & Trading

Foreigners, whether natural juristic, are not allowed to engage in commercial agency business. Foreign trading organizations are not permitted to operate on their own behalf in Qatar. They must sell their goods to Qatari concerns which will then market them locally.
Custom Duty

The import of goods into Qatar is regulated by the Qatar Customs Law No. 5 of 1988. In general, a person wishing to import goods into Qatar for sale, must be registered in an importers register and be approved by the Qatar Chamber of Commerce. Individual importers must have Qatari nationality. Companies must be wholly owned by Qatari nationals except in the following instances;

The following rates of customs duty apply:

Goods manufactured In GCC countries are exempt from customs duty provided they are accompanied by a certificate of origin Issued by The Chamber of Commerce in the GCC state of' origin. Exemptions from customs duty apply to:

• Food products such as grains, livestock, tea, coffee, sugar, rice, infant milk and other essential consumer items;
• Equipment, materials and other supplies belonging to government entities or state companies;
• Personal effects and used household appliances and furniture belonging to foreign employees arriving in Qatar for the purpose of residence.

Valuation

The basic value for the assessment of duty is the CIF value of the goods. Where only the FOB price can be established, duty is based upon the FOB price plus I5%.Temporary ImportsThe Qatar Customs authorities allow certain goods, including equipment, to be imported on a temporary basis, Temporary imports are subject to the prior approval of the Director of Customs. This approval is normally valid for a period of 6 months, but may be extended by a further 6 months. A longer "temporary Import" period may be granted in exceptional cases at the option of the customs authorities. A cheque or a bank guarantee equivalent to the duty on a normal import must be deposited with customs to secure this temporary import arrangement.Duty ExemptionsAs general rule duty exemptions will not normally be granted. However, it is stated government policy to allow customs duty exemptions for Qatari joint venture entities, where there is a substantial investment from the foreign joint venture party. In recent years, blanket duty exemptions for construction materials and equipment imports have been granted to the principal contractors working on projects undertaken in the oil and gas and water and electricity sectors. Personal effects and restrictionsonce a foreign employee is resident in Qatar there is normally no difficulty in importing personal effects free of customs duty. Registration of Intellectual Property

Patents

Patents are protected by a system of registration for an initial period of 10 years; they may be registered for a further five years only, It is possible for patents to be licensed. Trademarks A trademark may be registered for 10 years and may be renewed indefinitely for further 10-year periods. Registration gives an owner the exclusive right to use a trademark on the goods for which the trademark is registered. The owner may prevent other parties from using the trademark on competing products. Copyright Under the 1995 intellectual properly original literary and artistic works, including computer software, video and audio tapes are protected. The law includes penalties for violation including fines ranging from QR 30.000 to QR 100,000 and a term of imprisonment ranging from six months to one year.

• Structure of Business Entities