Egypt amends its customs law: Egypt’s Finance Ministry has introduced amendments to its customs law to streamline customs release procedures and boost transit trade, under a decision issued by Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, according to a ministry statement. The amendments come as a way to strengthen governance and simplify procedures with the target of making Egypt a regional center for transit trade, the statement said.

Customs release should now be faster: The modified procedures require customs declaration forms to be submitted electronically as soon as incoming goods are unloaded, unless they are stored within customs licensed yards or warehouses, in order to accelerate the pace of their release, the statement writes. The amendments also allow ins. documents to be acceptable substitutes for bank guarantees — which will encourage direct transit trade, it added.

Less stop and search: Under the amendments, goods that are shipped via international multimodal transport will be exempt from inspection at entry and exit points — unless deemed necessary by the Egyptian Customs Authority (ECA), ECA head El Shahat El Ghatwary added. Suspicion, violation of security, public order, and public health are listed as the necessary justifications to evaluate transiting goods, according to the statement. Check out what Schenker Egypt’s CEO Khaled Morsy ( Linkedin ) had to say about the importance of boosting transit trade in Egypt in our one-on-one with him in June .

Other important amendments: Containers will now be cleaned and repaired under the amendments so they can be reused, the statement said. The new measures also introduced exemptions for oil companies from certain fees, the statement added, without clarifying what the fees are. Oil companies are also now allowed to edit the quantities declared in their customs documents, within 72 hours of submitting their documents, according to the statement.

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