G/LIC/Q/EGY/3  
 
22 July 2020 
(20-5032) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Import Licensing  Original: English  
 
IMPORT LICENSING SYSTEM OF EGYPT  
QUESTIONS  FROM THE UNITED STATES TO EGY PT 
The following communication, dated 16 July 2020, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the United States of America . 
 
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The United States would like to draw Member’s attention to G/LIC/Q/EGY/1  and G/LIC/Q/EGY/2 , and 
request that the Government of Egypt respond to the below follow -up (1 -4) and additio nal questions 
(7-12) in writing.  
 
EU Questions under G/LIC/Q/EGY/2  
 
According to the recent TPR, Egypt maintains import prohibitions and restrictions for economic, 
environmental, health, religious, safety, sanitary, and phytosanitary reasons. The procedure s for 
importing into the free zones are governed by Law No. 72/2017 promulgating the Investment Law. 
In certain cases, additional certificates may be required by the customs authorities, including: control 
and security authorities' approval; a maritime del ivery order, except  for pre -arrival processing; or a 
certificate of origin when requesting customs duty exemption or preferential treatment.   
 
EU question No 2 : Could Egypt clarify which is the applied law governing the import licensing 
procedures?  Shoul d traders refer only to the Import and Export Law No 118/1975 and the Ministerial 
Decree No 770/2005 and Ministerial Decree No 902/2015? Or are there any other relevant pieces of 
legislation?  
 
Egypt’s Reply :  
 
As a general rule, the Import and Export Law no.118/1975 and its executive regulation in Ministerial 
Decree no. 770 /2005 issuing the Executive Regulation to Implement Import and Export Law 
no.118/1975 including their amendments and complementary decisions  are the main regulations 
governing import restrictions and licensing. However, it is worth mentioning that for many of the 
measures included in Ministerial Decree no. 770 /2005, the regulations and procedures and the 
administration of those licensing proc edures fall under the auspices of many authorities including 
Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Health 
and Population.  
 
Furthermore, some products are subject to other regulations set by these regula tory authorities and 
other regulatory authorities such as the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in the 
case of wireless telecommunication devices.  
 
US Follow -up Question : 
 
The Government  of Egypt stated that for many measures included in Mi nisterial Decree 
no. 770/2005, “ the regulations and procedures and the administration of those licensing procedures 
fall under the auspices of many authorities including Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, 
Ministry of Environment, and the Ministr y of Health and Population ”. 
 
 G/LIC/Q/EGY/3  
 
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  1. Could Egypt please specify  which regulations and procedures govern the administration of 
licensing procedures of each of these Ministries?  
 
2.  Could Egypt please provide copies of and/or descriptions of these regulations, indicating for 
each product subject to licensing, the elig ibility to make an application for an import license, 
the administrative body for submission of the application, the documents required in an 
application for an import license ? 
 
EU question No 3 : Could Egypt submit all relevant information justifying the i mport prohibitions 
applied to chicken offal and limbs , fowl livers, and various hazardous chemicals and pesticides, he 
two-stroke motor bicycle engines, toys in the form of pistols or rifles, bracelets listed as organizing 
body energy, and some incandescen t bulbs and laser pens?  
 
Egypt’s Reply :  
 
Imports of products stated in Annex 1 of the Decree 770/2005 and its amendments are suspended 
for SPS, national security, safety, religious and environmental measures.  
 
US Follow -up Question : 
 
3. Could Egypt pleas e submit a list of products currently suspended along with the  relevant 
information  and specific reasons with explanations  justifying the import suspensions .  
 
4. Under what conditions will imports be allowed to resume and will  these products require import 
licenses ? 
 
Additional U.S. Questions . 
The United States notes that during Egypt’s 2005 Trade policy Review, the United States asked:  
Paragraph 42 on page 35 of the Secretariat Report noted that Egypt, in general, does not subject 
imports to licensing or prior approval.  Egypt has never submitted a notification to the Committee 
on Import Licensing Procedures officially indicating, one way or the other, if it uses import licensing 
requirements in its trade regim e.   
 
When does Egypt plan to subm it its notification, and if such measures are used, copies of its licensing 
legislation and its response to the import licensing questionnaire to the WTO Committee on Import 
Licensing Procedures   ? 
 
To which Egypt replied:  
The general principle is that imp orts are not subject to import licensing except for some commodity 
groups such as medicine, pesticides, seeds and vegetarian food in the area of sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures .  Additionally, weapons, reserves, explosives and some products related to 
the environment are subject to import licensing in accordance with security measures   . 
Egypt plans to submit its notification, copies of its licensing legislation and its response t o the import 
licensing questionnaire to the WTO Committee on Import Licensing Procedures in September 2005.  
 
Furthermore, Egypt’s 2018 Trade Policy Review, Switzerland asked ( WT/TPR/M/367/Add.1 ):   
 
Question 13: As stated in para. 3.67 of the Secretariat's report, Egypt has not submitted any 
notifications with respect to its import licensing regime. When do the Egyptian authorities envisage 
to submit the notifications as mandated by the obligations of the Agreemen t on Import Licensing 
Procedures and allow the relevant committee to examine the import licenses of Egypt?  
 
To which Egypt replied:  
The general principle is that imports are not subject to import licensing procedures. However, it may 
be applied to ensure  the appropriate application of SPS, national security and environmental 
measures.  
 G/LIC/Q/EGY/3  
 
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  We are currently taking stock of all the trade related regulations that have not been previously 
notified in order to prepare and submit the appropriate notifications in t he context of the relevant 
WTO committees. However, this task requires huge human and technical capacities.   
 
Furthermore, in Egypt’s responses to the 2018 EU Questions under G/LIC/Q/EGY/1 , Egypt responded 
that: 
As mentioned  in the previous section, Egypt is currently in the process of taking stock of the relevant 
trade rel ated regulations including import -licensing procedures in order to prepare and submit the 
appropriate notifications in the context of the relevant WTO committees.  
 
However, it is worth mentioning that the general principle is that imports are not subject to import 
licensing procedures except where necessary to ensure the appropriate application of SPS, national 
security, religious and environmental measures.  
 
Additional U.S. Questions : 
5. When does Egypt plan to submit its notification, copies of its licensing legislation , and its 
response to the import licensing questionnaire to the WTO Committee on Import Licensing 
Procedures?  
 
6. Could  Egypt forecast how much more time it needs to submit  notifications to the committee?   
 
7. The ILA recognizes that “non -automatic licensing procedures should be no more 
administratively  burdensome than absolutely necessary to administer the relevant measure.”  
Could Egypt please clarify for which products i t maintains an import licensing regime, and, for 
each product, what is the administrative purpose and the underlying  measure through which 
the licensing procedure  is implemented?  
 
8. Could Egypt clarify whether or not poultry products are subject to “prior  approval” in the form 
of quality control  before importation. If so, could Egypt please explain the prior approval?     
 
9. How does the quality control in Egypt’s Decree 770/2005, Article 102 differ from “import 
licensing?”   
 
10. Are imports of chicken off al and limbs subject to a “prior approval,” import licensing, or both?  
 
According to the Secretariat’s report of Egypt’s 2018 Trade Policy Review ( WT/TPR/S/367 ):  
As established by Annex 1 to Decree No. 770/2005, import prohibitions apply to: chicken offal and 
limbs, fowl livers, [the authorities indicated that this prohibition is for religious reasons, as it cannot 
be guaranteed that chicken offal and limbs have been obtained from chicken slaughtered according 
to Islamic  Sharia].   
 
In the 2005 TPR of Egypt, Brazil asked ( WT/TPR/M/150/Add.1 ):  
Why does the import prohibition for poultry offal remain in place while most import prohibitions were 
lifted in 2004?  
 
To which Egypt repl ied:  
Import prohibition for poultry offal remains in place due to cultural reasons as it is difficult to make 
sure that these parts are (Halal) (...)  
 
In 2013, Egypt’s General Organization for Veterinary Services (GOVS) inspected and approved 22 
U.S. poultry plants for export, and certified that U.S. slaughtering processes and food safety 
measures are in accordance with Islamic halal practices.  However, Egypt continue s to deny U.S. 
imports for chicken offal and limbs, citing cultural and religious con cerns.   
Additional U.S. Questions : 
11. Given their 2005 response to Brazil, could Egypt please explain their refusal to import  chicken 
offal and limbs from the United States from 2013 -2019 even though 22 U.S. poultry 
slaughtering establishments were certi fied by GOVS for slaughtering processes and food safety 
measures in accordance with Islamic halal practices?  G/LIC/Q/EGY/3  
 
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  12. How many poultry processing facilities worldwide do Egyptian authorities certify as compliant  
with Islamic halal practices?  Are imports of chicken offal and limbs accepted from any of these 
plants?   
 
a. If so, we request that Egypt disclose its import trade statistics from the countries where 
poultry facilities are located.  
b.   If not, what wou ld be an acceptable basis for imports of chicken offal and limbs into 
Egypt?   
 
 
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