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

The General federation of importers and exporters invited the general engineer /Ismail Gaber, the chairman of THE General Organization for Export and Import Control to attend a meeting to discuss the procedures of facilitating foreign trade movement at the general federation of Egyptian commercial chambers.

Engineer /Ismail Gaber portrayed GOEIC role and the services provided to importers and exporters community and the most important points illustrated in this meeting were the following:

• Taking all procedures to facilitate and accelerate the timing of customs release for imported consignments at the Egyptian ports pointing at direct and permanent communication with the federation of commercial chambers to put general FOUNDATIONS to terminate all the obstacles and working on its solution no on individual basis. Also, they work on solving all the shortcomings and mistakes of electronic system that appear during the practical implementation for examination and release in cooperation with importers and exporters.
• Within the framework of the state’s tendency to automate all government transactions and facilitate procedures in line with developments in the international trade movement, a system has been launched to list certificates of origin electronically through the authority’s website by exporters in line with the global commercial policies of countries with which international trade agreements are concluded and it is approved as soon as the review. He pointed out that the issuance of certificates of origin is within the authority specification to export to the markets of free trade agreements that give customs exemptions for Egyptian products. The General Federation of Chambers of Commerce is concerned with issuing certificates of origin for all international markets without other parties.
• Concerning facilitating the procedures for entering imports, he stated that coordination is underway with importers to issue risk management certificates for all items and their origin in order to avoid repeated sampling and examination, and to facilitate and expedite the procedures for releasing those shipments. With regard to imports of chemicals, these types of shipments have special circumstances because they are related to specifications Technical and security, and work is underway to solve all obstacles to its entry into the market.
• In response to an importer’s question regarding the problem of stopping the validity of the import certificate due to problems in the export card, Engineer Ismail Gaber confirmed that this problem has been resolved by separating the tax card numbers from the import cards and export cards on the electronic system so as not to cause problems related to one of these cards over the other cards.

•   The procedures for export consignments have been automated for industrial goods exports, bringing the number of documents submitted for inspection requests and statistical forms from 10 to 4 documents, and the origin from 8 to 2 documents.

•   Operation of the pre-booking service for commercial registration services on the authority's website, and the public dealing room for commercial registrations was developed to eliminate overcrowding once and for all.

• GOEIC obtained accreditation for the unit for granting certificates of conformity for products according to the international standard 17065.

  8. Activating the role of GOEIC in the field of following up on the consignments granted release under custody in the places where they are stored in the importer’s warehouses in all governorates of the Republic.

• Opening and developing 65 laboratories according to the international standard ISO: 17025, with a number of 403 approved tests, the most important of which is the laboratory of non-spill batteries and batteries for electric cars, which is the first of its kind in the Arab Republic of Egypt capable of conducting all tests in this regard. The authority supports the initiative to localize the auto industry in Egypt, which comes within the national strategies to maximize the local product and to move towards the production of clean energy cars using electricity, which contributes to Egypt’s transformation of manufacturing and exporting this type of cars to the markets of the countries of the region.

• GOEIC is the only government entity that has been registered with the Saudi Saber system in the fields of textile and ready-made garments industries, as well as the field of shoes and leather products, and biodegradable plastics are being approved and registered.

• GOEIC’S keenness on permanent communication with the community of exporters and importers and upgrading the system of services provided by the authority with the aim of facilitating the business community and in a manner that contributes to opening new export markets for Egyptian products in various foreign markets, and that the authority is keen to provide services to the public of dealers through:

  - Goeic’s website: www.goeic.gov.eg

   - GOEIC’S hotline: 19591

  - Goeic’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/G.O.E.I.C1971

  In order to overcome all difficulties for the community of exporters and importers

  Form his part, Eng. Ibrahim Al-Arabi, President of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce, explained on the sidelines of the meeting that the Federation is in constant contact with all government agencies to create communication that allows a better environment for doing business, developing the internal trade system, and contributing to practical visions and ideas that would facilitate the movement of internal and external trade. The important role played by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in developing commercial operations in line with the development and change of the global economy, praising the positive role played by the General Organization for Export and Import control  in supporting and developing Egyptian exports, whether in automating transactions or facilitating the entry of industrial imports from production inputs and industrial machines, contributing  largely  in the production of goods that are re-exported as finished products.

  Dr. Sherif El-Gabaly, a member of the parliament and head of the Exporters General assembly, indicated that the meeting aims to discuss export coordination measures with the General Organization for Export and Import Control, and will be followed by several coordination meetings that contribute to facilitating work in all sectors.

  His Excellency suggested the formation of a joint committee between the general organization for Export and Import Control and representatives of the exporters and importers assemblies to facilitate communication between businessmen and GOEIC with the aim of laying the foundations for solving any practical obstacles that impede the flow of foreign trade movement in a manner that ensures the flow of work in these sectors.

  Mr. Hamdy Alngar the chief of general assembly of importers, asserted Workers in the import sector are always working to stabilize and balance the prices of goods in the internal market by importing market needs of goods and services whose demand exceeds what is produced locally, in addition to providing raw materials that constitute important production inputs for the national industry, knowing that a large part of Importers are also manufacturers and producers.

  Mr. Mostafa Alnagary, a member of exporters’ assembly, declared Export and import are like two wings of a bird and are linked to one another, so the meeting brought together the two divisions representing exports and imports.

  This occurred during the meeting of the Engineer Ismail Gaber the chairman of GOEIC with the members of the general assemblies of importers and exporters of the federation of commercial chambers presided by engineer /Ibrahim Elaraby within the frame of general federation of commercial chambers communications with the governmental entities to solve all obstacles of import and contribute in raising the Egyptian exports volume to different international markets. Engineer /Ismail Gaber pointed out that the Egyptian government spares no efforts in developing inspection labs in all state ports to avoid the disadvantages of sending samples from one governorate to another for examination.