Certain essential consumer goods and other items are exempted from customs duty. Examples include currency, gold and silver bullion, seeds, fertilizers, live plants, agricultural implements and insecticides, books, refined petroleum products, tea, and various foodstuffs. The entire issue of tariffs and duties will be affected by Oman's entry into the WTO, slated for January, 2000. With a few exceptions, goods produced in other GCC countries enter duty free if accompanied by certificates of origin. The Ministry of Information delays or bars the entry of magazines and newspaper editions if it takes exception to a story on Oman or deems the content morally suspect.
Oman has no general provisions for the temporary entry of goods.
There are no free trade zones, although the concept has been raised in official circles over the past year. The government has set aside land along an interior border crossing point with Yemen by the name of al-Mazyounah for a free trade zone. The private sector is promoting the idea of a free trade zone adjacent to the port of Raysut, to complement the international container transshipment port set to open there in November 1998. The GCC summit in December 1996 failed to agree on a common tariff policy, but the issue remains under active discussion. Common GCC labeling standards do exist.