Egypt - Advance Cargo Information System: trial phase extended until the end of September 2021
As part of its trade facilitation and digitation strategy, the Government of Egypt is operationalizing Nafeza, a single window for trade facilitation, which includes a transition to the use of electronic trade documents. The agricultural and economic teams of the Netherlands Embassy are following these developments closely.
On 1st of July, an Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) system was supposed to come into exclusive use for shipments arriving at Egypt’s seaports. While this offers opportunities to streamline procedures, Egypt’s European trading partners also have practical questions to ensure economic operators are well prepared.
In response to concerns from Egyptian and EU economic operators, last week, Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, issued decree 238/2021 to extend the trial phase of Advance Cargo Information System (ACI) until 30 September 2021. This will postpone the mandatory implementation of the ACI system for pre-registration of shipments in the seaports to the 1st of October 2021. This will give economic operators more time to get familiar with the system.
More information on Nafeza and the recent decision is available on: https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/en.
For more on the Advanced Cargo System (ACI), see a summarized analysis by PWC Egypt.
If you are a Dutch company running into issues with the ACI, please contact kai-lnv@minbuza.nl (for agri-food companies) or kai-ea@minbuza.nl (for other sectors)