The Reply of Egypt to comments submitted by the European Union On notifications G/TBT/N/EGY/114 and G/TBT/N/EGY/115 In relation to the European Union s comments on Ministerial Decrees no.43/2016 and no. 991/2015 notified in documents G/TBT/N/EGY/ 114 and G/TBT/N/EGY/115 respectively, Egypt would like to thank the European Union for the comments and the understanding of the need for those measures. Recognizing the importance of the comments received, it is vital to clarify the following points: 1. The relationship between Decree No. 43/2016 and the earlier Decree No. 992/2015 and the legal status of the latter decree: Decree No. 992/2015 is not in force and has been cancelled and replaced before its entry into force by Decree No.43/2016, which has been notified to the WTO TBT Committee in document G/TBT/N/EGY/ 114. 2. The relationship between Ministerial Decree No. 991/2015 and Ministerial Decree No.43/2016 : The two mentioned decrees are mutually independent. In fact, Decree No.991/2015 deals with pre-shipment inspection to ensure conformity of the products with the relevant accredited Egyptian standards which have been notified to the TBT committee over the past years. Pre-shipment inspection activities relating to the verification of quality are well acknowledged under the auspices of the WTO Agreement on Preshipment inspection. On the other hand, Decree No.43/2016 concerns the registration of the manufacturing plants and the companies owning trademarks qualified to export their products to Egypt. Ministerial Decree no.43/2016 does not 1
deal with or require compliance of products with specific technical regulations, this aspect is governed by the other relevant Ministerial Decrees that have been notified to the WTO TBT Committee. 3. The lack of clarity concerning the nature of the documents required for registration in the context of Ministerial Decree No. 43/2016 : The required documents for registration are clearly set out in the text of the Ministerial Decree for both the manufacturing plants and the companies owning the trademarks. Furthermore, all required information regarding the registration process and samples of the required documents and applications have been made available at the website of the General Authority for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) www.goeic.gov.eg. It is also worth mentioning that all the documents to be submitted need to be certified by the Chamber of Commerce or its counterpart and approved by the Egyptian Embassy in the exporting country. As another alternative, the documents are to be certified by the Chamber of Commerce and approved by the Embassy of the exporting country in Egypt and the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All submitted documents should also be translated into Arabic by accredited translation centers. It should also be noted that among the facilitating measures is that a copy of the certificate stating that the producer or the trademark owner company maintains a quality control system is accepted provided that it is available on the electronic database of the accredited certification service providers and GOEIC can verify it online. 4. The period of validity, the cost of registration and the time during which the registration takes place in the context of Ministerial Decree no.43/2016: The validity of the registration is subject to the period of validity of the submitted documents. The administrative services fees accompanying the registration process is around EGP 300. Registration usually takes place within two weeks time. 2
5. Statements that the interval between the publication of the requirement (Ministerial Decree no. 43/2016) and its entry into force is not a reasonable interval as provided for in the WTO TBT agreement: Ministerial Decree no.43/2016 mandates registration requirements and is rather administrative in nature. It does not impose further burdens on producers or companies in the exporting markets; it only requires registration through the submission of documents that already exist in any credible entity. It does not require that producers adapt their products or methods of production. Hence, it is Egypt s view that the two months transitional period was enough to carry out the registration process. Thus far, there has been over a thousand registration. 6. The lack of clarity in the context of Ministerial Decree no.43/2016 concerning the requirement of A certificate that the producer or the trademark owner company maintains a quality control system. The certificate should be issued by entities accredited by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) or the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) or an Egyptian or foreign governmental entity approved by the Minister competent for Foreign Trade and the benchmark against which the quality control system will be evaluated: There is no specific standard against which the certificate needs to be issued. It was intentional not to require any specific certificate in order to ensure that the requirement does not create any unnecessary burden on credible manufacturing plants and trademark owning companies that already maintain a quality control system. The only requirement is that this certificate stating that the producer or the trademark owner company maintains a quality control system be issued by entities accredited by national or regional accreditation bodies accredited by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) or the International 3
Accreditation Forum (IAF) or by an Egyptian or foreign governmental entity approved by the Minister competent for Foreign Trade. 7. The Lack of clarity in the context of Ministerial Decree no.43/2016 concerning the causes for suspicion in the validity of submitted documents and the inspection of the trademark owning company or the manufacturing plant to verify the validity of the documents and the request to exert due restraint in conducting inspection : Suspicion in the validity of documents is subject to objective visual and material evidence. Thus far, there has been over a 1000 registration, which were subject to no suspicion. Inspection of the trademark owning company or the manufacturing plant, is not based upon a request by the Egyptian authorities. As clearly stated in the decree, inspection will only take place upon the request of the applicant for registration and after the approval of the Minister competent for Foreign Trade. It is also worth mentioning that verification of the validity of documents may entail requiring further documentation from the registrant or contact with the Egyptian Embassies and Commercial missions abroad. 8. The situation of intermediaries or trading houses and whether they need a separate registration in the context of Ministerial Decree no.43/2016: Intermediaries or trading houses do not require separate registration rather they can act as the authorized person of the manufacturing plants or the companies owning trademarks they deal with and hence proceed with the registration process including the submission of the application for registration accompanied by the required accredited documents. In fact, many of the intermediaries or commercial agents have successfully registered the manufacturing plants they deal with. It is also worth mentioning that once the manufacturing plant has been registered and the company owning the trademark has fulfilled the 4
registration requirements, any intermediary or trading house can import the relevant products. In other words, importation is not confined to the authorized person who have conducted the registration process. 9. The impact of the provisions of Ministerial Decree no.43/2016 on the already existing requirements of quality control systems for agri- food products exporting premises and companies into Egypt: Ministerial Decree No.43/2016 does not duplicate other existing requirements. A certificate of maintaining a quality control system in accordance with the already existing requirements issued by accredited entities according to point (6) above would meet the relevant provisions of Ministerial Decree no. 43/2016. 10. Taking into account the comments provided by trading partners and the time provided to comment on the measure (Ministerial Decree no.43/2016) before it enters into force : The Ministerial Decree was published immediately upon adoption in the official gazette and the website of GOEIC, which all economic operators are familiar with. As already explained Ministerial Decree no.43/2016 mandates registration requirements that do not impose excessive burdens on producers or companies in the exporting markets; it only requires registration through the submission of documents that already exist in any credible entity. It does not require that the producers adapt their products or methods of production. Furthermore, noting this and the fact that the decree does not require compliance with any product specific technical regulations, it was notified as soon as possible to the WTO TBT committee to ensure transparency. It is also important to emphasize that the Egyptian authorities are always open to any comments and requests for clarifications from our trading partners. In fact, Egypt has taken into account the comments of member countries and has indeed provided a number of facilitating measures during the past few months including: 5
- Considering registered companies in GOEIC, according to Article 94 of Ministerial Decree no. 770 for year 2005 and its amendments issuing the Executive Regulation to Implement the Import and Export Law - White List, as meeting the requirements of Ministerial Decree No.43 for the year 2016 until they have completed their registration process. - Excluding the products that have been shipped or have arrived before the entry into of force of the decree. - Excluding the shipments for which credit was opened before the entry into force of the decree. - Excluding the contracts concluded, legalized and accredited from Egyptian consulates abroad in case of transfer of at least 10% of its value before the date of entry into force of the decree according to the payment terms stipulated in the Executive Regulation to Implement the Import and Export Law, provided they are implemented in a time period of no longer than a year. - Allowing for the release of the products imported from manufacturing plants and companies owning trademarks that have completed and submitted the required documents and administrative service fees to GOEIC and pending the issuance of the Ministerial decree concerning their registration. This facilitating measure has been made available for shipments that have arrived Egyptian ports until May,30 th, 2016. Furthermore, government officials have conducted numerous meetings with the diplomatic missions of many countries clarifying the provisions and requirements of the Ministerial decree. GOEIC has also responded to over 1360 electronic mails requesting further information and clarification. 11. The power of the Minister competent for Foreign Trade to provide an exemption from all or part of the registration requirements stipulated in Ministerial Decree no. 43/2016 : 6
Thus far, there has been no exemptions or reliefs from all or part of the registration requirements, this power will only be used in case of urgent and necessary public interest. Finally, Egypt would like to express its appreciation of the special economic and trade relations it maintains with the European Union and looks forward for further deepening of those relations. 7