Egypt: Registration mandatory for foreign factories and trademark-owning companies

Introduction

On the 17th of April 2022, the General Organization for Import and Export Control (GOEIC) announced the suspension of import activities of several companies and factories to Egypt for violating Ministerial Decree no.43 of 2016 (“Old Ministerial Decree”) issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The Old Ministerial Decree sets out the registration conditions of the competent companies and factories to export their product to the Arab Republic of Egypt, it is important to highlight that said registration conditions were amended by the issuance of Ministerial Decree no.195 of 2022 (the “New Ministerial Decree”) on the 31 March 2022. 

Prior to the New Ministerial Decree

Under the Old Ministerial Decree, products imported for trading purposes may not be released from customs unless produced by foreign factories registered in Egypt and imported from trademark-owning companies or from registered distribution centers.

The requirements for registration in the register are as follows:

• For factories: submit a registration application accompanied with the following supporting documents:
• Certificate of factory’s legal entity and its license;
• Statement of items it produces and their trademarks;
• Products trademark; and
• Certificate indicating that the trademark-owning company has a quality control system. Said certificate shall be required to be recognized by the International Accreditation Federation (ILAC), International Accreditation Forum (IAF), or any governmental body approved by the competent Minister for Foreign Trade.
• For trademark-owning companies: submit a registration application accompanied with the following supporting documents:
• Certificate confirming the registration of trademark and products produced;
• Certificate from company owning the trademark indicating the distribution centres that are allowed to supply products with said trademark; and
• Certificate indicating that the trademark-owning company has a quality control system. Said certificate shall be required to be recognized by the International Accreditation Federation (ILAC), International Accreditation Forum (IAF), or any governmental body approved by the competent Minister for Foreign Trade.

Key Features of the New Ministerial Decree

The issuance of the New Ministerial Decree has amended the registration procedures for foreign factories and trademark-owning companies and added the following conditions to the above mentioned requirements:

• Registration shall take place as soon as the completed documents are submitted, provided that evidence of registration is delivered within a period not exceeding fifteen (15) days from the date of completion. If the documents’ authority is in doubt, the registration applicant may request to inspect the company or factory to verify the authenticity of the documents;
• Registration of documents may be submitted through embassies and consulates of countries concerned;
• Renewal of documents with an expiration date must be made within a period not exceeding thirty (30) days from the expiry date; and
• Publish all registrations or cancellations in the Egyptian Gazette and on GOEIC website.

Prior to the issuance of the New Ministerial Decree, the Minister of Foreign Trade had the right to grant exemptions from any registration requirement. Said right was revoked by the issuance of the New Ministerial Decree.

On the 18^th of April 2022, GOEIC has issued a statement clarifying the suspension decision, the reason behind it and its procedures. In its statement, GOEIC mentioned that the reason behind such suspension decision was due to the fact that many foreign companies and factories neglected to renew the documents that had an expiration date.

Further, the statement mentioned that in the event of expiration of a document, a notice is sent regarding the expired document to violating companies and factories for a period of two weeks on GOEIC’s website.

Failure to renew said documents results in the suspension of import activities for a period of one year. In the event of recurrence, the company will then be written off due to its lack of seriousness in entering the Egyptian market.

Upon the renewal of the registration, suspended companies can resume importing their products.

How can we help?

Should you wish to learn more about the newly promulgated Ministerial Decree, please contact Ayman Sherif Nour, Partner, Head of Corporate Structuring, Egypt Office and/or Hadia ElBeshry, Senior Associate, Egypt Office.