Circular Letter Dated June 5, 2017 Regarding the Payment of the Value of Imports Exceeding Two Thousand US Dollars by Banks

Cairo, June 5, 2017

Dear Mr. Chairman of the Board,

Greetings,

I wish to inform you of the publication of Ministerial Decision No. 835 of 2017, amending certain provisions of the Executive Regulations of Law No. 118 of 1975 concerning Import and Export and the system for inspection and control procedures for imported and exported goods, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 770 of 2005.

In light of the above, I wish to draw your attention to the necessity of compliance with the provision that payment for imports exceeding two thousand US dollars or its equivalent in foreign currencies (instead of five thousand US dollars) must be made through banks holding accounts within the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Furthermore, I wish to inform you that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has issued a decision amending the provisions of Article (9), Article (10), Article (11), Article (14), Article (19), Article (22), Article (78), Article (79), Article (82), Article (97), Article (104), Article (19/First Paragraph), Article (72), Article (76), Article (79), and Article (82) of the Executive Regulations of Law No. 118 of 1975 concerning Import and Export and the system for inspection and control procedures for imported and exported goods, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 770 of 2005 and its amendments.

Please be so kind as to alert your staff to take action to implement the aforementioned decision.

Accept my highest regards and appreciation,

Gamal Naguib

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Arab Republic of Egypt
Ministry of Trade and Industry

Ministerial Decision No. 835 of 2017

Amending certain provisions of the Executive Regulations of Law No. 118 of 1975 concerning Import and Export and the system for inspection and control procedures for imported and exported goods, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 770 of 2005 of the Minister of Trade and Industry.

After reviewing Law No. 108 of 1975 concerning Import and Export;

After reviewing Law No. 105 of 2002 concerning the development of exports;

And after reviewing the Executive Regulations of Law No. 118 of 1975 concerning Import and Export and the system for inspection and control procedures for imported and exported goods, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 770 of 2005 and its amendments;

And based on the memorandum from the Foreign Trade Agreements and Commerce Sector dated 28/11/2017;

And based on the opinion of the State Council;

Decides:

Article (1)
The following texts are substituted for the texts of Articles (9), (10), (11), (14), (19), (22), (78), (79), (82), (97), and (104) of the Executive Regulations of Law No. 118 of 1975 concerning Import and Export and the system for inspection and control procedures for imported and exported goods, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 770 of 2005, referred to above:

Article (9)
Without prejudice to what is stipulated regarding special cases in these Regulations, the payment for imports exceeding two thousand US dollars or its equivalent in foreign currencies shall be made through any of the commonly accepted banking payment methods through banks holding accounts within the Arab Republic of Egypt. The bank executing the transfer shall electronically notify the Customs Authority of the details of the transfer as specified by the Foreign Trade Sector, for goods imported for trade or production.

The imported shipment shall not be released until the aforementioned notification is received by the Customs Authority.

In the event of a discrepancy in the value or type of the shipment compared to the details of the transfer electronically notified by the bank, the competent Customs Authority shall electronically notify the concerned bank and the Foreign Trade Sector of this discrepancy.

The importer may settle the value of imports with the value of exports or services.

Banks operating within the Arab Republic of Egypt shall collect the administrative fees determined by the Minister concerned with Foreign Trade for the full value of the goods covered by the transfer and add them immediately upon collection to the account of the Ministry concerned with Foreign Trade at the Central Bank of Egypt.

The bank shall electronically notify the Customs Authority of the administrative fees collected.

In cases where release is effected directly by Customs, these fees shall be collected by the Customs Authority on behalf of the Ministry concerned with Foreign Trade.

Release shall not be permitted until Customs verifies the payment of these fees.

Without prejudice to the provisions stipulated in Chapter One of Part One of these Regulations, for the release of imported goods for trade, the importer must be registered in the Importers Register, and the goods must be listed within the commodity groups registered in the importer's registration card in this register.

The General Authority for Export and Import Control shall electronically provide the Customs Authority with those registered in the aforementioned register, the commodity groups registered for them, and any amendments thereto.

The provisions of this Article shall apply to goods imported under the Trust system.

Article (10)
Subject to the provisions stipulated in Chapter One of Part One of these Regulations, production and service projects may import their needs for production and operation supplies or service performance without requiring registration in the Importers Register.

The General Authority for Industrial Development shall electronically provide the Customs Authority with projects for which a certificate of participation has been issued, and the General Authority for Export and Import Control shall electronically provide the Customs Authority with projects for which needs cards have been issued by the Authority.

Other supervising bodies over the activities of production, service, or export projects holding activity licenses, other than those mentioned in the aforementioned decision, shall electronically provide the Customs Authority with projects for which an activity license for production or service activity has been issued; otherwise, the importer must provide a document proving the activity to the competent Customs Authority for the release of what they import.

The choice by the importer of the release system according to the import system for production of goods and services constitutes an acknowledgment and commitment by him that the imported goods are production supplies or their components within quantities covering his actual needs.

The Customs Authority shall electronically provide the Foreign Trade Sector with a statement of what is released each month according to this system, specifying in the statement (Project Name / Activity - Tax Number - Address - Activity).

Projects shall not dispose of imported supplies other than for the purpose for which they were imported, except with the approval of the Minister concerned with Foreign Trade upon request from the importing project, including justifications for the request approved by the body supervising the activity.

Article (11)
Without prejudice to the provisions stipulated in Chapter One of Part One of these Regulations, except for Article (9), Customs shall directly release goods imported for private use by natural persons (not legal entities), within the limits of the needs of the activity licensed to them.

The choice by the importer of the release system according to the special use system constitutes an acknowledgment and commitment by him that the goods imported are within the limits of the needs of the licensed activity.

The Customs Authority shall electronically provide the Foreign Trade Sector with a statement of what is released each month according to this system, specifying in the statement (Name of the Person Concerned - Tax Number - Address - Type of Activity - Imported Quantity).

Article (104)
The competent Customs Authority is committed to electronically providing the branch of the General Authority for Export and Import Control concerned with all details and documents related to the exported shipment and any changes occurring to these details before shipment.

Those in non-mechanized or non-electronically connected locations are exempt from the preceding paragraph. The exporter or their representative must fill out Statistical Form (Y) attached to these Regulations for each shipment and deliver it to the branch of the General Authority for Export and Import Control concerned before shipment. The data recorded in this form must match the actual shipped data and the Unified Customs Declaration. The exporter is also committed to notifying the Authority's branch of any changes occurring to these data. The competent Customs Authority shall not allow the completion of shipment until it is confirmed that the aforementioned statistical form has been delivered to the Authority's branch.

The body responsible for issuing certificates of origin at the General Authority for Export and Import Control shall verify the details and documents received from Customs electronically or the statistical form, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and any changes occurring to them, as appropriate, before issuing the certificate of origin.

A request for a certificate of origin shall be submitted according to the provisions of the previous Article on the form prepared for this purpose at the General Authority for Export and Import Control for one shipment or several shipments of one type or several types or categories addressed to one importing party and on one means of transport, accompanied by a declaration from the person concerned regarding the accuracy of the submitted data and the compliance of the shipments with the rules of origin according to the agreement concluded with the country of destination.

Regarding products of production projects in free zones and special economic nature zones, the zone's presidency shall certify that these products are manufactured within the zone.

A request for the issuance of a certificate of origin may be submitted electronically, accompanied by a copy of the declaration mentioned in the first paragraph. The exporter is committed to providing the original declaration to the Authority upon receiving the certificate.

The General Authority for Export and Import Control is committed to issuing a certificate of origin for anyone requesting it according to the rules determined by the Authority in this regard after paying the prescribed fee, and issuing it within (48) hours from the date of submitting the request, and issuing it immediately for perishable goods and goods shipped by parcels. The exporter is responsible for what they provided of details and documents upon which the certificate of origin was issued.

Article (19/First Paragraph)
Subject to the provisions of Article (1) of these Regulations, for the release of goods listed in Appendix No. (8) attached to these Regulations, the conditions and procedures stipulated in Part Two of these Regulations must be fulfilled. This is exempted from what is stipulated regarding special cases in these Regulations and what is imported for special use or personal use and production supplies imported by production and service projects in their names and on their behalf and within quantities covering their actual needs.

Article (72)
The Customs Authority is committed to electronically providing the Foreign Trade Sector with details of exports and imports by quantity, value, name of the exporter or importer, and name of the country of origin or destination.

The Customs Authority also electronically provides the Foreign Trade Sector with what is implemented of exports and imports under the integrated shipments system.

Article (76)
The Authority's branch at sea, air, and land ports is the sole body to which Customs refers electronically the documents and details of imported or exported shipments that must be presented to the competent supervisory authorities according to laws and regulations.

This branch is also the sole body that issues the final inspection results.

Article (97/First Paragraph)
Documents and inspection results shall be exchanged between Customs and the Authority electronically.

Article (79)
The Customs Authority shall rely on what the Authority decides regarding procedures and results of inspection and control of imported or exported goods.

The Customs Authority shall not rely on any inspection requests, tests, or inspection results issued by any other body.

The competent Customs Authority shall release exported or imported goods as soon as the Authority's decision to fulfill inspection and control conditions is issued electronically, except for non-mechanized or non-electronically connected locations, in which case the Authority's decision is in writing.

Article (82)
Importers of goods subject to inspection by the Authority according to the provisions of Article (76) may request their inspection inside or outside the Customs district. Inspection requests are submitted electronically or in writing.

Importers of goods are committed to paying the value of services provided by the Authority, according to the rules issued by a decision of the Minister concerned with Foreign Trade.

In the event that the importer or their representative fails to attend at the scheduled time for inspecting the shipment, the inspection request is cancelled, and a new inspection request for the shipment is submitted with new fees.

The importer is notified of the final inspection results electronically or in writing to the address recorded on the import card or shipment documents. In case of return of the letter, the results are posted on the Authority's announcement board for six days, and this constitutes an official notification. The importer must review the status of the shipment according to the electronic means provided by the Authority within a period not exceeding two working days following the deadlines specified for issuing inspection results in Article (58) of these Regulations, to follow up on the shipment inspection results and procedures to be taken at the times specified by the Authority's branch.

Regarding rejected shipments, the following shall be observed:
The source submits the inspection request to the Authority electronically via the website prepared for this purpose or in writing on the form prepared for this purpose, committing to pay the fees determined by a decision of the Minister concerned with Foreign Trade.

Those in non-mechanized or non-electronically connected locations are exempt from this, submitting the inspection request to the concerned branch of the Authority in writing on the form prepared for this purpose, committing to pay the fees mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

In all cases, the exporter may request the completion of inspection procedures on the Customs declaration.

Article (Second)
Subject to the provision of Article (Third) of this Decision, Appendices Nos. (4), (5), and (2) attached to the Executive Regulations of the Import and Export Law and the inspection and control procedures for goods referred to above are repealed.

Article (Third)
All concerned bodies shall regularize their status within a period not exceeding six months from the date of implementation of this Decision. The provisions of Articles (9) and (10) referred to above are exempted from this; concerned bodies shall regularize their status within three months from the date of implementation of this Decision.

Article (Fourth)
This Decision shall be published in the Egyptian Gazette and shall be implemented as of the day following its publication.

Minister of Trade and Industry
Engineer / Tarek Kabil