Egypt to sign customs agreements with US, European Union, Belarus

CAIRO – 19 August 2019: Ministry of Finance announced Monday signing a number of agreements related to mutual assistance in customs matters with countries including the United States, Belarus, and European Union.

Minister of Finance Mohamed Ma’it elaborated that these agreements come to ensure the establishment of bilateral cooperation in the accurate assessment of goods, to determine the taxes and customs duties, implement customs laws, and identify prohibited goods such as weapons and narcotics, and to address customs violations.

He added that the Egyptian Customs Authority, in cooperation with the US Customs Administration, finalized the draft of the preliminary agreement on "mutual assistance in customs matters" between Egypt and the United States in preparation for referral to the competent authorities to review and take the necessary measures towards its entry into force.

The cooperation agreement with Belarus is expected to be signed during the sixth session of the Egyptian-Belarusian Economic Committee, which will be held in September in the Belarusian capital, Ma’it added.

Ma’it explained the initial formula will be reviewed before referral to the competent authorities to take the necessary measures towards its entry into force.

The minister pointed out that coordination is currently underway with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to start a round of negotiations with the European Union on the mechanisms to provide information on goods exchanged between the two sides (brand, value and country of origin).

Ma’it stressed that the Egyptian-European dialogue aims to reduce the time of release and the cost of import, which includes the adoption of commercial invoices for goods from the Chamber of Commerce in the country of export, and to verify all the information and data provided, especially in light of the goods received from the Egyptian - European Partnership.