The Egyptian Customs Authority is preparing to exempt cars of European origin with engine capacity of 1,300 CC or less from custom within days, according to the EU-Egypt Association Agreement that provides a discount of 15% in this category.
An official at the Ministry of Finance told Daily News Egypt that custom exemptions on European cars with a capacity of 1,300 CC or less will reach 100% in the upcoming days under table four of the agreement, which came into force in 2008.
The source said table five of the agreement includes cars with capacity of over 1,300 CC, which came into force in 2010, and will continue to see customs cuts until 2019.
Among the most prominent cars that will be affected by the decisions are the French 1,200 CC Renault Capture and the 1,200 CC Spanish Seat Leon.
An official with the customs authority told Daily News Egypt previously that the 2016 cuts have been imposed, bringing down customs on cars of European origin to 60% and expecting further cuts to reach 0% in 2019.
In 2014, the government issued a decree to postpone the fifth tranche of the Egyptian-European agreement, which provides gradual customs cuts by 10% per annum on passenger cars, as a result of pressure of car assembling factories in Egypt. The agreement was resumed in 2015 and a 10% cut was imposed at the time.
“The reduction will continue at 10% a year to reach 70% in 2017, 80% in 2018, and a further 20% cut in 2019 to offset the postponement that occurred in 2014,” the source said.
The agreement aims to promote trade between Egypt and the EU to raise the chances of building access for Egyptian exports to European markets through the reduction of imports costs of industrial inputs from the EU.
