Egypt applies customs reductions on 6900 commodities exported to Mercosur markets

CAIRO - 1 September 2021: The Minister of Trade and Industry, Nevin Gamea, announced the start of applying customs reductions on 6900 commodities exchanged between Egypt and the Mercosur countries, as of September 2, 2021.

The customs reductions that will be implemented include a customs reduction of about 62.5 percent on Egyptian exports of goods included in the third list, which includes more than 3,400 commodities, in addition to a customs reduction of goods listed in the fourth list by about 50 percent, which includes about 3,500 commodities.

The new tranche of customs cuts comes as a continuation of the list of goods that were completely freed from customs duties during September last year, which included about 600 goods.

The minister said in a statement issued today, Wednesday, that the customs cuts come within the framework of the free trade agreement signed between Egypt and the countries of the assembly, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, noting that the most important items of these goods included in the third and fourth lists of the agreement, include Pile, textiles, and engineering goods, as well as glass and crystal.

The minister added that there has been a remarkable development in economic and trade relations between Egypt and the Mercosur countries during the past four years, since the conclusion of the free trade agreement between the two sides, and its entry into force on September 1, 2017.

The Minister of Trade and Industry explained that the lists of goods covered by the customs reduction are currently being circulated to all export councils and business groupings, especially small and medium companies, to enhance benefiting from the great competitive advantage of Egyptian exports in accessing these important markets, and to start communicating with companies importing these products in the Mercosur countries.

The Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry for Economic Affairs, and the supervisor of the foreign trade and trade agreements sector, Ibrahim El-Sigini, said that Egyptian exports to the Mercosur countries have jumped by 115 percent since the agreement entered into force in 2017.

The “Mercosur” agreement is a free trade agreement between Egypt and the countries of the grouping, which is an economic bloc of the Common Market of Southern Latin American countries, and this grouping includes (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay).