The UAE’s Federal Customs Authority (FCA) has issued a list of items that are prohibited to carry into the country as well as a list of items that may be allowed following the consent of competent authorities.

Some of the prohibited and restricted items include narcotics, gambling tools and machines, nylon fishing nets, live pigs, raw ivory, laser pens with a red-light package, fake and counterfeited currency, substances contaminated nuclear rays and dust, publications, pictures, religiously offensive or immoral drawings and stone sculptures, as well as paan substances, including betel leaves, FCA said.

“Entry of a number of restricted commodities may be allowed following competent authorities’ consent including live animals, plants, fertilisers and pesticides, weapons, ammunition, explosives and fireworks, medicines, drugs and medical equipment and instruments, media publications and products, new vehicle tyres, transmission and wireless devices, alcoholic drinks, cosmetics and personal care products, raw diamonds and cigarettes manufactured and processed from tobacco,” the FCA said.

When importing prohibited items, it said the consent of competent authorities including the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), Ministry of Culture and Youth, Federal Authority for Nuclear Energy, Ministry of Industry and Advance Technology, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, Dubai Police and Kimberley UAE would be required.

The FCA emphasised that travellers, who are caught smuggling, would be fined, imprisoned and both penalties can be enforced simultaneously.

It indicated that the unified customs law defined smuggling as the entry or an attempt of entry or taking out any goods from or to the state without paying duties wholly or partially, or in contradiction to the provisions of prohibition or legal restrictions.