Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has directed for the Egyptian Customs Authority (ECA) to reduce the time limit, from four to one month, on parties to claim their goods from customs before selling neglected goods.
The ministerial directive comes as part of package of new measures that ensure the speedy sales of selling goods left by their owners at customs.
This would ensure the improved handling of containers left at customs points in Egypt in a manner that prevents their accumulation in ports and warehouses.
The minister said that Egypt’s Customs Law and its executive regulations allow the authority to sell those goods left warehouses or customs docks which the owners have failed to withdraw. The directive also covers those items left by travellers at customs offices.
The owners will be notified by letter, with an acknowledgment of receipt or by means of an announcement to the administration authority.
He noted that the team overseeing the directive’s implement includes representatives from the ECA. Also present on the team are representatives from the General Authority for Government Services, which was formed to re-evaluate the value of neglected goods.
ECA Chairperson Kamal Negm explained that a unit is present that directly follows the authority’s activities, to monitor neglected goods issue on a daily basis.
The unit monitors the situation regarding hazardous materials containers and stagnant neglected goods in customs and warehouses, alongside the mechanisms for their disposal.
It also takes the necessary measures to raise the efficiency of these items’ disposal, in coordination with the concerned authorities. This will occur in a way that contributes to facilitating procedures for disposing these containers and preventing their accumulation in ports and customs outlets, Negm said.
He pointed out that many dangerous items have been removed from abandoned containers and stacks in Egypt’s ports and customs yards. They have been deposited in other, safer areas for storage, in coordination with the relevant ministries and authorities.
Negm called on the affected parties to quickly claim their neglected goods in order to avoid having their goods sold after the one-month period expires.
