note! The country implements cargo information forecast system declaration, non-compliant shipping companies refuse to ship

Egypt has issued a new Minister of Finance Decree No. 38 of 2021. This Decree was issued to clarify the pre-shipment registration procedures of goods, introduce electronic signatures (electronic seals) used in import documents and new steps for imported products.

That is to say, the "Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) declaration" is implemented in Egyptian ports. For all imported goods, the consignee must first predict the cargo information in the local system to obtain the ACI Number and provide it to the shipper. This (ACI) Number requires mandatory display on the bill of lading and manifest. The trial operation will start on April 1, 2021, and it will be enforced on July 1, 2021 (all arrival dates).

According to the new Egyptian regulations, importers must report the arrival of the goods in advance before loading at the port of departure and wait for the approval of the relevant authorities. Once the customs approval (cargo information declaration form) is received, the importer is responsible for providing ACID to the exporter so that they can update all documents related to the shipment, including the bill of lading.

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According to the latest announcement issued by the shipping company, the Egyptian Customs has announced a grace period from April 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021. After that, all imported goods strictly require ACI, and the carrier is obliged to load the goods from the first shipment. Verify ACI related information before loading at the cargo port.

Therefore, exporters or their agents should compulsorily provide ACI to shipping companies. The reference is as follows:

ACID-Advance Cargo information declaration: 19-digit unique number.
Egyptian importer's VAT number: 9 digits.
Exporter registration number
Exporter registration country

In order to comply with the full implementation of ACI, from June 15, 2021, the above mandatory fields will be provided to customers to fill in, and shipping instructions will be submitted 36 hours before the scheduled ship arrives at the first loading port (ETA).
According to local legal requirements, ACI related information should be verified at the latest 24 hours before loading. If any of these references are missing from the shipping instructions, the shipping instructions will be rejected.

With the full implementation on July 1, 2021, if ACI-related data is lost or fails during the verification phase, the shipping company will strictly prohibit the loading of any cargo planned to be shipped to Egypt at the first port of loading.

It should also be emphasized that according to the new setting, Egyptian importers and their exporters should be registered on "CargoX" because commercial documents related to goods can only be transmitted electronically.