Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait announced on Tuesday the issuance of several measures that will allow the release of some of the goods that have piled up in the Egyptian ports. This aims to ease the burdens on investors and importers, in the light of the current global economic crisis, and to reduce the costs of goods to citizens.
Maait said that, in coordination with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and others, it was agreed that any shipment that fulfils customs clearance formalities will be released after submitting its import financing form “Model 4”.
Fines on delay in fulfilling customs clearance formalities were also suspended.
Maait explained that shipping agencies will be allowed to transfer imported goods from ports to warehouses and dry ports, in the name of shipping agencies, or the name of importers following the established procedures.
He added that the Customs Authority will not release shipments under the names of importers outside the customs ports except after shipping agencies have issued a “Delivery Order” to protect their dues.
This will ease the additional burdens of storing goods in ports, “the value of fines, floors and guards.”
The minister indicated that the deadline for food imports has been extended for four months before converting them to “obsolete,” taking into account the validity date, and 6 months for non-food products, until the completion of the required documents from the relevant authorities.
