Based on the provisions of the Central Monetary and Payments Law No. 9 of 2021 AD
and the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law No. 7 of 2023 AD
and on the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Monetary and Payments Office held on 10/31/2023 AD
The joint presidency of the Central Monetary and Payments Office decides on the executive instructions for transferring funds across borders in the areas of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Autonomous Administration Areas: Autonomous Administration Areas of North and East Syria
Monetary Office : Monetary and Payments Office
Directorate: Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Directorate at the Central Monetary and Payments Office
Negotiable funds: banknotes and coins in circulation in local currency or any other currency, including commercial instruments, financial papers, means of payment and other negotiable transferable values of various types if they are not created or endorsed for the benefit or order of a named person / bills of exchange, promissory notes, checks, payment orders, bearer payment instruments, prepaid payment cards / also includes precious metals, gemstones and gold used exclusively in commercial transactions.
Disclosure/declaration: Providing detailed information about who owns the negotiable funds being transferred, who is transferring them, who will receive them, and about the value, type, source, and purpose of use of these funds, in addition to information about the method and means of transport, upon request by the customs authorities.
False disclosure/declaration: is giving false or incomplete information about the value of the money transferred across borders or any other information required to be disclosed by the authorities or refraining from disclosing as required/mandated.
Money smuggling: is any operation or activity that involves the disposal or transfer of negotiable funds by carrying them personally or by means of a bag or by any other means or by shipping them by means of a container or by any other means of shipping or by sending them by mail without disclosing them or falsely disclosing them and in an illegal manner to the General Administration of Customs or any other authority determined by the Autonomous Administration of the North and East of Syria regions to outside of it or vice versa.
Article 2: Objective and scope of application
Under Chapter Seven of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. 7 of 2023, these executive instructions aim to achieve effective levels in order to maintain the financial system and monetary stability of the local currency through
First: Preventing the export, import and export of local and foreign currencies and funds, precious jewelry, precious stones and gold used in commercial operations exclusively from/to the areas of self-administration in violation of the laws and regulations in force
Second: Protecting the financial system and preventing violations that affect economic stability
Article 3: Specialization
Customs employees in charge of control and inspection, security personnel at borders and land and sea ports, and other judicial police personnel are charged, each within the limits of his jurisdiction, with controlling any smuggling operations or attempts to smuggle negotiable funds.
Article 4 Disclosure and Investigation
First: Every person, upon arriving or leaving the areas of the Autonomous Administration, must automatically disclose the negotiable funds, precious metals or gemstones used exclusively for commercial operations in his possession if their amount or value exceeds $5,000 or its equivalent in other currencies.
Second: for the purposes of paragraph /a/ above, the currency exchange rate is calculated according to the bulletins available at the Central Monetary and Payments Office.
Third: The Customs Department must ensure that the attached disclosure form No. 1 is filled out, and that it includes at least the following data:
– The traveler’s name and personal data
– His passport data
– His place of residence data inside and outside the autonomous administration areas, if it found
– The reason for coming to the autonomous administration areas, if he is not a resident there
– A statement, value, description and type of negotiable funds in his possession
Fourth: The customs directorates shall be the party responsible for submitting permit forms for incoming and outgoing travelers to and from the autonomous administration areas and placing signboards in Arabic, English and Kurdish in visible and specific places at border customs centers in coordination with the relevant authorities.
Fifth: Customs employees shall be responsible for receiving the aforementioned disclosure form and recording these forms in special records. The disclosure forms shall be sent to the directorate periodically and automatically and shall be recorded in the database to take the necessary action regarding them.
Article 5: Controls for Transferring Money Across Borders
First: in the event of coming to the areas of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, every traveler carrying negotiable funds exceeding $5,000 or its equivalent in currencies must declare them by filling out the declaration form at the General Administration of Customs to show their source, the purpose of their transfer, and the real beneficiary.
Second: in the event of leaving the areas of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, every traveler leaving the areas of the Autonomous Administration and in possession of negotiable funds exceeding $5,000 or its equivalent in currencies must declare them by filling out the declaration form at the Customs Administration
Thirdly: if the negotiable funds intended to be transferred outside the areas of self-administration exceed $25,000 or its equivalent in other currencies, the traveler must obtain prior approval from the Central Monetary and Payments Office after presenting all documents justifying the source, purpose and beneficiary of the transfer of these funds and presenting this approval to the Customs Administration personnel.
Fourthly: in the event that the approval of the Central Monetary and Payments Office is not presented to the Customs Directorate, the funds will be withheld for a period not exceeding 45 days until prior approval is provided from the Monetary and Payments Office. If the aforementioned period is exceeded without prior approval being provided, the funds will be referred to the Central Monetary and Payments Office to take the necessary measures regarding them
Fifthly: in order to obtain prior approval to transfer funds exceeding $25,000 or its equivalent in currencies, the traveler must provide the Central Monetary and Payments Office with valid legal, financial and commercial documents justifying the source of the negotiable funds and their real beneficiary.
Sixthly, with regard to travelers arriving and departing from and to the Syrian interior, the following provisions shall apply:
A- Travelers departing to the Syrian interior are prohibited from transferring money in US dollars or any other foreign currency.
B- Travelers arriving from the Syrian interior shall be subject to the same procedures stipulated in paragraph (first) of this article when transferring money in US dollars or any other foreign currency.
D- Those departing and arriving from and to the Syrian interior shall be allowed to transfer money in Syrian pounds up to 25 million Syrian pounds only. If the money in Syrian pounds exceeds this amount, a cross-border money transfer permit must be filled out at the border crossings. If the money exceeds 100 million Syrian pounds, prior approval from the Central Monetary and Payments Office is required, under penalty of the Customs Administration seizing these funds and taking the necessary measures.
Seventh: Members of a single family traveling to and from the autonomous administration areas are treated as one person and are not entitled to transfer money across borders, negotiable financial instruments, precious metals, and gemstones whose value exceeds 5,000 US dollars.
Article 6 Reporting to the Directorate
A- The General Administration of Customs must immediately report to the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Directorate in the event of suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing in accordance with the suspicious transactions reporting form approved by the Directorate
B- The General Administration of Customs must provide the Directorate with disclosure forms periodically
C- In the event of non-disclosure, false disclosure or smuggling of funds, the General Administration of Customs must prepare a report on the incident and refer it to the Public Prosecution to take the necessary measures and request additional information about the source of the negotiable funds and inform the Directorate immediately. The seizure report and the seized items are referred to the Public Prosecution to take its measures. It is also necessary to keep information and statistics on the amount of negotiable funds that have been disclosed or discovered, as well as data on the identity of their holder, and this information must be available to the Directorate
Article (7) Database
The General Administration of Customs shall establish an electronic information base that has the necessary security and confidentiality specifications. All disclosures, minutes, documents and papers shall be kept in this base in a clear manner. The Directorate shall have the authority to directly access disclosures, minutes, documents and papers.
Article (8) Confiscation
The seized criminal materials, tools and means used in completing the crime shall be confiscated for the benefit of the public treasury.
Article (9)
A- The provisions of these executive instructions apply to all areas of the self-administration, regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator. The violation is considered to have been committed in the areas of the self-administration if any of the acts constituting it occur therein.
B- All previous instructions related to the transfer of funds across borders and implemented by the Cash and Payments Office are considered cancelled and will be replaced by the present instructions.
Article (10) Coordination and Cooperation
All official bodies, agencies, departments and institutions are committed to cooperating and coordinating with each other in combating currency smuggling and exchanging information and expertise in this regard.
Article 11 Penalties
In the event of non-disclosure or false disclosure and violation of Article 36 of Law No. 7 of 2023 (Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing), the provisions of Article 45 of Law No. 7 of 2023 shall apply with regard to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine of not less than half the value of the funds subject to the crime and not exceeding their value, or one of these two penalties. If the perpetrator of the violation is a legal person, he shall be punished with a fine of not less than the value of the funds subject to the crime and not exceeding twice its value.
Article 12 Effectiveness
These executive instructions shall be effective 60 days from the date of their issuance and publication and shall be circulated to those concerned to implement their content
Co-Presidency of the Central Monetary and Payments Office
Annex No. 1
Negotiable Funds Disclosure Form
Negotiable Funds Disclosure Form
the date : ……………………………..
Airport/Port/Border Outlet …..
————————————————————————————————–
– All travelers who have in their possession (cash, negotiable financial instruments, precious stones, precious metals, valued at more than 5,000 US dollars or its equivalent in foreign currencies ) must fill out this form .
– In the case of traveling families, the form is filled out by the head of the family , stating the total amounts held by the traveling family members.
————————————————– ———————————
Full name : ……………….. ………
————————————————– ———————————
Nationality ……………… Date of Birth ….. …..
Passport No…….. Issuing Authority …….. Date of Issue …
Address in the areas of self -administration …….. Phone number………. Address in the country of residence …….. Phone number ……..
Purpose of travel…….. Company Carrier ……… Flight No. ….. Coming from …. Departing to …..
Flight number…………………Mean of transport …………………
————————————————– ———————————
Cash and precious metals
————————————————– ———————————
Types of currencies ……………………………… …. Amount …. Equivalent in Syrian pounds
Metals Gold Diamonds Other Jewelry
Quantity…. Value In lira Syrian …..
Negotiable financial instruments. Type….. Value …..
Source of cash / precious metals and financial instruments Negotiable and its purpose …..
precious metals /tradable financial instruments you carry belong to someone else? Yes No
If the answer is yes, please fill in the following information :
Owner’s name ….. Nationality …..
His address: …. Phone number ….
———————————————————————————————————————–
We, the undersigned, certify that all the information disclosed above is correct and if it turns out otherwise, I bear full criminal responsibility .
Signature of the traveler….. Date ….
————————————————————————————————————————
For official use only
———————————————————————————————————————-
Name of border crossing ………………..
Time ….. Date …..
Name of Customs Officer …. Signature …. Director General of Customs
– Filling out this form is mandatory under the provisions of Chapter Seven (of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. 7 of 2023 AD)
– Non-disclosure or disclosure that is not in accordance with the truth exposes you to accountability. Legal
المرفق رقم واحد
نموذج الافصاح عن الاموال القابله للتداول
نموذج الافصاح عن الاموال القابله للتداول
التاريخ :……………………………..
المطار/ الميناء/ المنفذ الحدودي………………………………..
———————————————————————————–
– على جميع المسافرين الذين بحوزتهم (مبالغ نقديه ادوات ماليه قابله للتداول /احجار كريمه /معادن ثمينه تزيد قيمتها عن 5000 دولار امريكي او ما يعادلها بالعملات الاجنبيه ) تعبئه هذا النموذج
– في حال العائلات المسافره يتم تعبئه النموذج من قبل رب الاسره على ان يتم ذكر مجموعات المبالغ التي بحوزه افراد العائله المسافرين
———————————————————————————–
الاسم كاملا:……………………………………………………….
———————————————————————————–
الجنسيه…………………….. تاريخ الميلاد……………………………..
رقم الجواز…………. جهه الإصدار…… تاريخ الإصدار………………….
العنوان في مناطق الاداره الذاتية…………. رقم الهاتف………………… العنوان في بلد الاقامه…………… رقم الهاتف……………..
الغرض من السفر………… الشركه الناقله…………. رقم الرحله……………… قادم من…………….. مغادر الى…………………
رقم الرحلة…………………. وسيله النقل……………………
———————————————————————————–
المبالغ النقديه والمعادن الثمينة
———————————————————————————–
انواع العملات …………………………………………………………. المبلغ ……………….. المعادل بالليره السورية
المعادن ذهب الماس مجوهرات اخرى
الكمية………….. القيمه بالليره السوريه ………………
ادوات ماليه قابله للتداول. نوعها……… قيمتها……………
مصدر المبالغ النقديه /المعادن الثمينه والادوات الماليه القابله للتداول والغرض منها…….
هل ما تحمله من مبالغ /معادن ثمينه /ادوات ماليه قابله للتداول هي لشخص اخر؟ كلا نعم
اذا كانت الاجابه بنعم يرجى تعبئه البيانات التالية:
اسم المالك …………….. جنسيته………………….
عنوانه:………….. رقم الهاتف……………
———————————————————————————————————————–
اقرانا الموقع ادناه بان كامل المعلومات المفصح عنها اعلاه صحيحة واذ اتضح خلاف ذلك اتحمل كامل المسؤوليه الجنائية
توقيع المسافر…………………. التاريخ………………………..
————————————————————————————————————————
للاستعمال الرسمي فقط
———————————————————————————————————————-
اسم المنفذ الحدودي ………………………………………
الوقت …………………. التاريخ…………………….
اسم موظف الجمارك ………………. التوقيع…………….. مدير عام جمارك
– ان تعبئه هذا النموذج الزامي بموجب احكام الفصل السابع ( من قانون مكافحه غسل الاموال وتمويل الارهاب رقم سبعه لعام 2023 ميلاديه
– عدم الافصاح او الافصاح الغير مطابق للحقيقه يعرضك للمسائله القانونيه
To download click here
