Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade General Organization for Export and Import Control

We work together in full harmony and coordination to approve a “facilitation package” for the purpose of simplifying and facilitating the movement of Foreign Trade and reducing the time and cost of trade movement to improve the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy.

The first package of customs facilities and the Foreign Trade System asserts our keenness to adopt economic policies that stimulate the investment, production and exportation.

We target facilitation of the procedures, reducing the release time and costs, and encouraging customers to complete all procedures for their incoming shipments before they arrive.

Facilitating the pre-clearance system and postponing the collection of customs duty and other taxes and fees until goods arrive.

Spreading over the customs duties imposed on production supplies for a period of (6) months along with exemption from paying the additional tax during the first (3) months.

Complying with the guarantees stated in the Executive Regulation and adding some other guarantees accepted by customs, such as the insurance policy, for the first time; and in response to the requests of the customers, a tolerance percentage of “production depreciation” will be determined for production projects.

Adding a tolerance percentage not exceeding (3) % of “manufacturing depreciation” that is consistent with the “wear and tear” rates specified by the Industrial Control Authority for production requirements for all economic zones of a special nature.

Facilitating the conditions of joining “Authorized Economic Operator” program, and doubling the number of beneficiaries to at least 500 companies.

Reducing the activity period required to join the program and facilitating the inclusion of medium and small enterprises.

Expanding the inclusion of all supply chains in the “Authorized Economic Operator” to include “port and airport operators, warehouses, courier agents and transport agents.”

Expansion of multilateral mutual recognition agreements with trading partners in their capacity as Authorized Economic Operators to ensure rapid access to the Egyptian exports

Granting the advantage of customs clearance at the customer’s premises to companies included in the white list included in the Authorized Economic Operator Program.

Unification of the risk system followed by customs and the General Organization of Export and Import Control to ensure simplification and facilitating the procedures and speed up the release time.

Correcting the concepts of release paths, including the green path, in accordance with International Best Practices

Forming a higher committee for joint risks system under the supervision of the Cabinet to coordinate among the supplying parties

Expanding public customs warehouses in dry ports, with the allocation of warehouses for the neglected to reduce burdens and congestion at customs ports.

Reviewing customs tariff categories in line with international obligations, especially for targeted goods and industrial sectors, to maximize production capacities and support national industries.

For the first time, a system has been approved to ensure the speed and simplification of the work of the committees for resolving all customs disputes and expanding its scope to involve all matters, including temporary admission violations.

Criminal liability will be limited to representatives of legal persons for crimes arising from their actual management.

Allowing companies to establish logistics service centers to trade and distribute goods so that Egypt becomes a global center for transit trade.

Release within one day of preparing the goods for inspection until approval of the “Single Item” Certificate and any items that do not need to be displayed and incoming shipments for dry ports.

Immediate disclosure of goods of special nature such as food commodities, by the concerned parties without waiting “24 hours”

Linking incentives allocated to workers in logistics centers and joint inspection committees to customs release rates and timings.

Allowing manufacturing companies exporting to Egypt to register on the “White List” as long as their shipments are not rejected by laboratory testing within a year

Allowing factories to transport and store goods under reservation for consignments of production supplies after “virtual conformity”.

Greater role for joint inspection committees to ensure the governance, speed up customs clearance and reduce costs.

Updating the website of Customs Authority and issuing a manual of customs procedures, instructions and controls for imports and exports, including all applicable fees.

Effective mechanisms for communicating with stakeholders in the Foreign Trade System and identifying “points of contact” with the relevant parties.

Allowing electronic payments to be accepted for all activities to facilitate dealing with customs ports.

Doubling the working hours of the customs clearance system to reduce congestion at ports and outlets and improve the efficiency of supply chains.

Creating a database of the prospectus and indicative prices and updating this database periodically, and making it available on “Nafeza" System.

Providing advance inquiry service to those dealing with the Foreign Trade System by all means.

During the press conference held by Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister, following the weekly government meeting today, Mr. Ahmed Kojak, Minister of Finance, and Eng. Hassan El Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, reviewed the procedures and steps approved by the Cabinet today, and proposed by the two ministries, which aim to provide more customs facilitation related to the procedures for releasing imported goods, developing the customs system, and enhancing export and import control procedures.

Mr. Ahmed Kojak, Minister of Finance, and Eng. Hassan El Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, confirmed that we are working together in harmony and full coordination to approve a “facilitation package” to alleviate and facilitate Foreign Trade Movement, and reduce the time and cost of trade movement to improve the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy.

They explained that the first package of customs facilities and the Foreign Trade System confirms our keenness to adopt economic policies that stimulate the investment, production and export.

The Ministers of Finance, Investment and Foreign Trade stressed: "We aim to facilitate the procedures, reduce release time and costs, encourage customers to complete procedures for all their incoming shipments before their arrival, facilitate the pre-clearance system, and postpone collection of customs duties and other taxes and fees until the goods arrive.

They demonstrated that the first package of customs facilities and the Foreign Trade System includes the payment of customs tax imposed on production requirements in installments for a period of (6) months, with exemption from paying the additional tax during the first (3) months, in addition to taking into account the guarantees set forth in the Executive Regulations, and adding some other guarantees acceptable to customs such as the insurance policy.

The two ministers explained that for the first time and in response to the customers' requests, a tolerance percentage of “production depreciation” will be determined for production projects, indicating the addition of a tolerance percentage not exceeding 3% "manufacturing depreciation" that is consistent with the "wear and tear" rates specified by the Industrial Control Authority regarding production requirements for all economic zones of a special nature. 

The Ministers of Finance and Investment pointed out the facilitation of the conditions for joining the “Authorized Economic Operator” program and doubling the number of beneficiaries to at least 500 companies, reducing the period of activity required to join the program and facilitating the inclusion of medium and small enterprises, in addition to expanding the inclusion of all supply chains in the “Authorized Economic Operator” to include “operators of ports, airports and warehouses, express mail agents and transport agents” and also reaching more multilateral mutual recognition agreements with trading partners in the capacity of Authorized Economic Operator to ensure the rapid access of Egyptian exports.

They asserted that this package includes granting the customs clearance advantage at the customer's premises to the companies included in the white list included in the Authorized Economic Operator Program, working to unify the risk system followed by customs and the General Organization of Export and Import Control (GOEIC) to ensure the facilitation of procedures and speeding up the release time, correcting the concepts of release paths, including the green path, in accordance with International Best Practices, and forming a higher committee to the joint risk system under the supervision of the Cabinet to coordinate between the supplying parties.

The two ministers added that the general customs warehouses at dry ports will be expanded, with warehouses allocated for neglected goods to reduce burdens and congestion at customs ports, referring to the review of customs tariff categories in line with International Obligations, especially for goods and targeted industrial sectors to maximize production capacities and support national industries.

They explained that for the first time, a system will be approved to ensure the speeding up and simplification of the work of the committees to resolve all customs disputes and expand its scope to include all matters, including temporary admission violations, and that criminal liability will be limited to representatives of legal persons for crimes resulting from their actual management, confirming that companies will be allowed to establish logistics service centers to trade and distribute goods, so that Egypt becomes a global center for the transit trade.

The two Ministers of Finance and Investment indicated that the release will take place within one day from the time the goods are prepared for inspection until the approval of the “Single Item” Certificate and any items that do not need to be displayed and the incoming messages for dry ports, and the immediate inspection of goods of a special nature such as food commodities by the concerned parties without waiting “24 hours”, pointing out that the incentives allocated to workers in the logistics centers and joint inspection committees are linked to the rates and timings of the customs release time.

They asserted that producing companies exporting to Egypt will be allowed to register on the “White List” as long as their shipments are not rejected by laboratory testing within a year, and factories will also be allowed to transport and store goods under reservation for shipments of production requirements after the “Apparent Conformity” and there will be a greater role for joint inspection committees to ensure governance, speed up customs clearance and reduce costs.

The two ministers added that the Customs Authority's website will be updated, and a guiding manual will be issued with customs procedures, instructions and controls for imports and exports, including all applicable fees along with creating effective mechanisms for communication with those dealing with the Foreign Trade System, and the identification of "points of contact" with the relevant authorities, indicating that payments will be accepted electronically for all activities; to facilitate those dealing with customs ports, and doubling the working hours of the customs release system; to reduce congestion in ports and outlets and improve the efficiency of supply chains, and creating a database for indicative prices and updating them periodically and making them available on the "Nafeza" System, and providing the advance inquiry service for those dealing with the foreign trade system by all means.