A few months after public pushback forced Damascus governorate to pause restrictions on alcohol consumption in March, the issue has re-emerged through a quieter route: Syria’s new customs regulations. Alcoholic beverages—and, more surprisingly, musical instruments—have now reportedly been listed as prohibited imports.
While the two episodes appear to share a similar objective, the contrast in their methods is striking and alarming. The alcohol ban imposed by the Damascus governorate in March caused controversy because it was visible. Syrians could see it, debate it and push back. This time, the approach is more opaque. Rather than announcing and defending a politically controversial restriction, customs authorities appear to have embedded it inside a nearly 900-page bureaucratic document that few citizens will read and even fewer will understand.
The problem goes beyond the prohibited goods themselves. It lies in the use of administrative authority to restrict goods that are not banned inside the country. If officials can use customs regulations to impose their moral preferences without clear legal justification or public debate, then the issue becomes about how Syria will be governed: whether the transitional authorities will manage the country’s diversity through inclusive, participatory and transparent laws, or discipline it through buried rules and bureaucratic moralism.
Prohibition by regulation
The issue resurfaced after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 109 in May 2026, introducing a new Customs Law. Shortly afterwards, the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports and Customs published an extensive customs tariff document setting out entries for a wide range of goods, including alcoholic beverages and musical instruments. The document listed these items as part of a “negative list”—a term understood by economists and analysts to refer to prohibited imports.
Customs regulations are meant to classify goods, set tariffs and regulate what can enter or leave the country. They can restrict or ban certain goods, but such measures should be clear, lawful and proportionate. They must be based on public interest, not the private moral preferences of officials running state institutions.
Alcohol is not banned in Syria. Nor are musical instruments. Alcohol is sold and consumed in many parts of the country. Musical instruments are used in private homes, cultural centres, restaurants, weddings and churches. If these goods are legal inside Syria, on what basis can customs regulations prevent them from entering the country? Such restrictions also risk pushing suppliers away from official channels and towards smuggling routes, with clear financial, legal and health implications.
