The Maldives Customs Service’s “Time Release Study 2025” report reveals that the clearance process for exporting goods from the Maldives by sea takes, on average, more than 10 days. This study tracks the timeline starting from the submission of the declaration to the final departure of the vessel.
According to the findings, the declaration assessment takes approximately 15 hours, payment processing requires 17 hours, and the off-shore request and approval procedures consume about 3 days. Furthermore, inspections conducted by various authorities take roughly one and a half days, while the approval of booking forms spans over a day. The most time-consuming phase in the entire process is the final stage of loading the cargo and the vessel’s departure.
Based on the insights from this study, Customs aims to implement administrative reforms and leverage digital systems to significantly reduce the time required for cargo exportation.
