The Division of Home Appliances at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce agreed with the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade to facilitate the registration of factories that export to Egypt.
The two institutions agreed on a period not exceeding one week from completion of the required documentation for registration and payment of fees, according to resolution 992/2015 amended by resolution 43/2016.
Head of the Home Appliances Division, Ashraf Hilal said that the division sent a letter to the ministry detailing the importers and traders’ objection to resolution 992/2015, specifically regarding the pre-examination certificate.
The importers complained of delays in registration and a lack of understanding of procedures for laboratories to be authorised to Egyptian standards, which leads importers to pay thousands of dollars for foreign laboratories.
The Ministry of Industry has responded to importers’ requests by issuing a resolution which reduces factories’ registration period to not exceed one week.
The resolution also states that, in case of any delay, the importer will receive a letter of authorisation for the completion of import operations.
It was agreed that the importers who have registered, completed the procedure, and received a registration number will be recorded on a white list.
“After registering on the white list, a random general inspection will be carried out. Imports do not require inspection every time but samples will be taken for examination,” Hilal said.
Deputy head of the division Fathy Al-Tahawy said in the case of samples not meeting Egyptian standards, the importers would be subject to law 118/1975, which stipulates that the importer would receive a warning. If the importer violates standards again, they would be written off and not allowed to register again for at least one year.
The ministry confirmed that any sample that had been approved by authorised international laboratories would not be refused.
“The ministry is currently studying importers’ request to not write off factories which produce more than one commodity. Non-conforming goods and commodities would be written off rather than the factory,” Al-Tahawy added.
In January, Minister of Industry Tarek Qabil issued a decree to create a record at the General Organisation for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) that will register the eligibility of foreign factories exporting to Egypt to ensure the quality of imported products.
