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Egypt: Halal Regulations likely to be postponed to the beginning of 2023

Nieuwsbericht | 20-10-2022 | 10:51

Last year, The Egyptian government announced that ISEG Halal would be the only competent authority recognized by the Egyptian government to issue Halal certificates for all food products and factories. All imported food products were announced be Halal certified by ISEG Halal to enter Egypt. Due to the lack of clarity on the implementation of this decision, the Egyptian government has decided to postpone applying this decision till 1st of October. Find our latest update below:

halal

In recent months Egypt has notified the World Trade Organization about its compulsory Halal registration in response to concerns from trading partners. Newly formulated Halal standards were published.  

Last week, the Agriculture Advisor of the Netherlands Embassy has met with the management team of ISEG Halal company. The company shared the following updates;

  • Applying ISEG Halal as a mandatory requirement will be probably postponed to the beginning of next year. No official announcement yet.
  • Applying for ISEG Halal is for free now. Companies are advised to apply before it becomes mandatory. 
  • To apply for ISEG Halal certificate, send an e-mail to global@iseghalal-eg.com and to sh.zidan@iseghalal-eg.com. The company will request some documents and will arrange the inspection through their office in Germany. Cost of inspectors will be covered by ISEG Halal office.
  • The process of obtaining the certificates takes from 1-2 weeks.
  • After the current trial phase, the cost of obtaining this certificate will be 1500$ per container (450 $ by exporter and 1050$ by the importer) but now it’s free of charge.
  • A new announcement from Ministry of Trade and Industry will be published soon.   

Beside ISEG Halal, the importing process is becoming increasingly difficult in Egypt due the current economic situation. There is a shortage of foreign currency in Egypt. Companies experience difficulty to transfer money from Egypt, resulting from a policy of rationing forex by the Central Bank. It is unclear how this will affect the trade between Egypt and Netherlands. Companies who have moved from trade to investment, however, are more insulated from these challenges. 

The agricultural team of the embassy will follow up on developments and stand ready to provide updates when needed. KAI-LNV@minbuza.nl