Exports to Egypt must provide an ACID number from July; Canadian customs enforces new declaration rules

The ACID number must be provided for export to Egypt from July 1st

Earlier, the Egyptian Ministry of Finance announced that it would rely on the NAFEZA platform to implement the Advance Cargo Information Declaration (ACID) system in all ports across the country. The system has been piloted on April 1, 2021, and will be enforced on July 1, 2021 (all arrival dates).

The ACID system is a new customs system in Egypt that requires cargo data to be sent at least 48 hours before the cargo leaves the port.

Relevant export companies should pay attention to coordinating with local importers and freight companies in Egypt. They must complete registration on the NAFEZA platform, submit relevant information and obtain an ACID number before the goods are shipped. The ACID number will be applied to all shipping documents.

If the ACID number cannot be provided, the goods will be forcibly returned to the port of loading and fined.

For detailed regulations, please refer to the Egyptian Customs Notice: https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/en/site/aci-details

▍Canada Customs enforces new declaration rules

According to the official notice of the Canadian Customs (CBSA): Starting from January 4, 2021, except for FROB and In-transit types that still accept the original ACI declaration, all goods imported or transited through Canada must be processed 24 hours before shipment. -Manifest declaration. The Canadian Customs gave the new regulations a transition period of 6 months, and they began to enforce them on July 4.

For cargo owners who fail to declare in a timely manner, no fine (zero fine) will be imposed for the first 6 months of the formal implementation of this regulation, but the declaration must be completed correctly before customs clearance. After the 6-month grace period, consignors who fail to declare correctly in time will be fined.

Before talking about EM, we must first understand ACI. ACI (Advance Commercial Information) is a pre-declaration commercial information system, that is, the Canadian version of the AMS manifest system. All goods imported into or transiting through Canada must declare ACI.

To put it simply, EM is an upgraded version of ACI. The biggest difference between the two in terms of freight forwarding is: ACI uses a real sending and receiving communication for a one-time declaration, while EM needs to declare layer by layer, that is, if you set several orders, just declare several times.

The Canadian Customs clearly stated that for Canadian imports, freight forwarders at all levels (NVOCC/Freight forwarder) must submit eHBL data on their own and no longer accept shipping companies to declare ACI S10 information on their behalf. Please prepare the system in advance, or contact a third-party eHBL service provider to declare eHBL on time.