Factory Registration in Egypt

Youssry Saleh & Partners

22 Dec 2016

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The Minister of Trade and Industry has reviewed certain Laws and Decrees which are:

1-The Law No. 118 of 1975 on Import and Export.

2- The Ministerial Decree’s No. 770 of 2005 on the regulations of implementing the provisions of the above mentioned Law No.118 of 1975.

3- The Ministerial Decree No. 992 of 2015 on rules that regulates the registration of the certified factories to export products

Then issued the Decree No. 43 of 2016 of Minister of Trade and Industry which amended the rules and regulations for the registration of the Qualified Factories to Export the Products.

The Decree mainly concerns the imports for commercial purposes in the shape of finished products ready for retail to end consumer, it has listed product groups which is described by the HS code.

Subgroups included in listed products which are explained by less than 8-digit HS code that are applied if packed for retail to end consumer. The registered documents must be submitted physically at the GOEIC Office.

There are 7 different Offices around Cairo to receive the applications, the Head office being in Cairo. And the seven offices are located in: 6^th of October, Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Damietta, Suhag.

This amendment occurred on the 10^th of March 2016 was for the protection of foreign investments in Egypt such as Malaysian Factories and to protect their investment in Egypt.

This is why Egypt entered into mutual agreements that have more than 100 countries and most of those countries are European countries, USA, and African countries.

In 2010 there was an agreement that was made with Latin American Nations and the Mercosur bloc and these conventions can be found on the UNCTAD website.

Any Provision or decrees which contradict the above shall be canceled
It shall be published in el wakaye al masreya/ Government bulletin and it shall come into force after 2 months after date of its publication

The main purposes behind the Decision is threefold:

to ensure the protection of the consumer and preserve Egypt’s reputation through exports and imports;
to examine the latest scientific facts and equipment
to prepare the statistics on exports and imports of merchandise

Who is obliged to register?

In order to register a factory in Egypt there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed:

For factories registering documents should be done in the General Organization for Export and Import (GOEIC) control.
For companies -owners of trademarks qualified to export the products which exists in the attached statement to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Factories producers of the following products must be registered:

Clothing, textiles, furnishing fabrics, carpets, blankets and footwear
Toys
Regular bicycles, motorbikes and motorized bikes.
Home and office furniture.
Toilet paper, cosmetic paper diapers and towels.
Makeup-cosmetics, oral and dental care products, deodorants, toiletries and perfume preparations.
Soap and surfactants intended to use as soap for retail.
Milk and milk products for retail.
Preserved and dried foods for retail.
Oils and fats for retail
Chocolate and food preparations containing cocoa for retail
Sugar confectionery
Pastries and food preparations cereals, bread and bakery products.
Fruit juices for retail.
Natural, mineral and soda water
Floor coverings
Tableware, cutlery and kitchenware.
Bathtubs, sinks, wash basins toilet seats and covers thereof.
Blocks, squared tiles and tiles for home use.
Table glassware.
Reinforced iron.
Home appliances (stoves, fryers, air conditioners, washing machines, blenders, heaters)
Lighting devices for home use.

How to register:

For factories:

The submission of documents for registration of the factory should be done by the legal representative of the factory that is to be registered or, alternatively his deputy with the following legal documents

A certificate of the legal entity of the factory and the license issued for the factory.
List of items created by the factory and their trademarks.
The trademark of the product and trademarks produced by means of a license from the owner thereof
Certificate proving that the factory applies a quality control system and such certificate

Shall be issued by an entity recognized by International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) or by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF)

Or an Egyptian or foreign government entity approved by the Minister concerned with foreign trade.

Acknowledgment from the factory that it accepts the inspection that will be performed by the technical team to make sure it adheres with standards of the environment and Work safety.

For companies -owners of the trademarks:

Documents for companies’ registration it shall be submitted by the legal representative of the company who is the owner of the trademark or whom is delegated and supported by the following certified documents:

Certificate proving that the trademark is registered and the items produced under his trademark
Certificate from the company who is the owner of the trademark listing the distribution centers which are licensed to supply items with this trademark
Certificate proving that the company who is the owner of the trademark applies a quality control system, such certificate shall be issued by an entity recognized by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (IILAC) or by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) or an Egyptian or foreign governmental entity approved by the Minister concerned with foreign trade

Important note:

In case of doubts regarding the submission of the right documents, the factory/company will not be registered unless they are verified, with the request of the applicant it can be allowed to inspect the company or the factory to make sure that the documents are the right ones after the approval of the Ministry of Trade.

Registration Requirements:

The submission of the documents should be legalized at the Chamber of Commerce and the Egyptian Consulate at country of origin
Regarding languages the documents can be submitted in Arabic. Other languages are not accepted they must be translated at accredited office.
Concerning trademarks in Egypt they are accepted without legislation but if the exporter is not the one who produces the commercial invoice, it has to include the info of the producer as well the producer must include the exporter as the distributor center and if it wasn’t included then this invoice needs to be accompanied by a legalized document in the Chamber of Commerce indicating the relation between the producer, shipment and exporter.
The registration certificate takes 7 working days following the date they accepted the application which is proved by the fees receipt, it is used at customs upon import as part of clearance documents. In case the shipment has arrived to Egypt before issuing the certificate the fees are used as evidence of registration to continue with the clearance process but the final registration is only approved after the final registration.
It is only done one time and the validity of the registration is related to validity of submitted quality certificate , if the quality certificate expires, a valid certificate must be submitted to renew the registration

Exceptions:

They are applied for shipments produced by unregistered producers that arrives after the 15^th of March 2016 in case the existence of following documents:

The purchase is a signed contract of origin date before 15^th of January 2016
The least 10% of the contract value is transferred to exporter as proof of transaction
L/C for importing the shipment issued before the 15^th of January 2016
Document proving the delivery of shipment before the 15^th of January 2016

These exceptions period is one year, this means it’s for the shipments that arrives between the 15th of January 2016 and the 15th of March 2017

Youssry Saleh Law Firm is now assisting many clients in order to register their products and trademark with the GOEIC (Factory Registration in Egypt) and we have specialized attorneys in the import and export law in Egypt.