Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has revealed that 250 importing companies joined the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system for pre-registration of shipments within a month since its experimental launch on 1 April.
Some 1,000 customs transactions were recorded through seaports before shipping from the export country, while 4,400 foreign exporters registered on the international secure platform for exchanging data powered by blockchain technology.
This took place in preparation for the implementation of the ACI system, in accordance with the established controls and procedures.
The system forms part of Egypt’s electronic information platform that aims to facilitate and enable customs procedures in a way that helps reduce customs clearance times. It also aims to reduce the cost of goods in local markets, whilst strengthening governance.
Maait pointed out that Egypt is one of the first countries in the region to implement the ACI system. This is in line with the developed global systems used in cross-border trade, as it is based on processing shipments data during the “pre-shipment” stage in the country of export.
The minister said that the next stage will see the standard code written in the electronic tax invoice and the import invoice unified. This will come as part of the Ministry of Finance’s plan for electronic linkage between the tax and customs services.
It will take place in a way that contributes to facilitating trade and strengthening governance, achieving tax and customs justice, and integrating the informal economy into the formal economy.
