New Egypt Advance Cargo Information Declaration (2024)

The Egyptian Ministry of Finance (Customs Authority) activated article 39 of customs law 207 of 2020 and issued decree 38 of 2021. This requires a unique customs registration number (Advanced Cargo Information Declaration (ACI) for each incoming shipment imported into Egypt that must be included on all shipping documents. The ACI system is based on making the shipment data available to Egyptian customs before shipping from the country of export.

Steps to follow for Shipment Registration

The importer has to register an account on the electronic portal, Nafeza.
The importer has to register the essential data of the shipment, including a description of goods, exporter details, purchase order number, purchase date, origin, POL, POD, and the 10-digit HS Code.
The Customs Authority will respond by either accepting and issuing an ACI number or rejecting the application.
The importer must notify the exporter of the ACI number to be registered on all shipping documents for the shipment.
48 hours before the cargo ships from the Port of Loading, the exporter must submit draft documents to the CargoX platform or its integrated partners, such as Timber Exchange.
Upon cargo arrival, the importer is also responsible for filling the SAD form (Single Administrative Document) with all details of the shipment.

Important Points to Consider

If the documents are not uploaded by the exporter 48 hours before shipment from the Port of Loading, the cargo will be banned from being loaded on board.
In a scenario where the cargo is loaded on board, but the documents were not submitted on time, or the ACI number is missing from the shipping documents, the cargo will not be discharged in Egypt, and all re-export costs will be borne by the carrier.
Small discrepancies in documents will be permitted, such as volume 210.5 to 211, but a change of product description or type of goods is not allowed.
If the consignee is changed after document submission to CargoX, but 48 hours before loading on the vessel, then the new importer can go to Nafeza and create a new shipment ACI.
All exporters must be registered on the CargoX platform or its integrated partners, such as Timber Exchange.

Benefits of Electronic Documents and Customs Declarations

The exporter must no longer legalize documents in the Chamber of Commerce or the Egyptian consulate.
The exporter must no longer send a physical document by DHL. Instead, the exporter will upload documents on the CargoX platform or its integrated partners, such as Timber Exchange, whilst the importer uses the Nafeza platform to generate the ACI number.
Use of the CargoX platform is not free for the exporter. A small fee must be paid per set of documents that is yet to be determined. Eventually, the technology is expected to save on legalization and courier fees.

To know more about this Development, please attend our Timber & Technology Conference on April 8th, 2021, at 1 PM CET.

What is Timber Exchange: Timber Exchange is a modern digital trade partner meant for global trade management that works towards streamlining operations in the global timber trade. Our 100+ smart tools in multiple languages cover all steps from the inquiry of cargo until it arrives at its destination. This allows global counterparties to manage exports/imports, logistics and legal obligations from a central workspace that automatically creates tasks, notifications and warnings. 40% of all work can be automated, whilst reducing shipment delays and avoiding fines due to incorrect shipping documents or missed schedule updates.

What is CargoX: CargoX aims to allow anyone to send digital documents to anyone in the world within seconds. CargoX describes itself as an independent blockchain courier service that competes with the likes of DHL, FedEx, and UPS. Established in Jan 2018, the CargoX app uses Ethereum for transferring digital original documents. Initially focused on the global freight and supply chain documents, the company, in 2019, began expanding its BDTS (blockchain document transaction system) solution to verticals like air cargo, with a view towards providing a universal solution for document ownership transfer that is reportedly fast, safe, reliable and cost-effective. BDTS's smart contracts provide audit logs of all sent documents and can prove that the documents were genuine and not tampered with during the transfer.

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