WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
27 April 2007 
 (07-1759) 
Committee on Customs Valuation Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE AGREEMENT ON  
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL 
AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994 
 
EGYPT 
 
  The following communication, dated 13 April 2007,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Egypt.  
_______________ 
 
   Please find enclosed herewith the relevant customs valuation text
1 of  Articles 22 and 23 of 
Egypt's law no. 95 for year 2005 amending Articles 22 and 23 of the customs Law no. 66 for year 1963, and Articles 14-35 of the Ministerial Decree no. 10 for year 2006. It is requested that this 
notification be brought  to the notice of Memb ers in accordance with Article 22 of the WTO 
Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994.  
                                                     
 
1 In English only. G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
Page 2  
 
 
 Customs law no. 95/2005 
Amending Customs Law No. 66 of the Year 1963 
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Article 22
6: 
 
 Subject to international agreements that the Arab Republic of Egypt is party to them, the 
amount as declared for customs purposes where goods are imported shall be the actual value of the 
goods to which are added all actual costs and expens es paid in connection w ith the goods until their 
arrival at the port of destination in ARE territories.   If the value is defined in foreign currency, it sh all be estimated on the basis of the exchange 
rate as announced by the Central Bank of Egypt on the date the customs statement is registered, 
according to the conditions and terms to be determined by the Minister of Finance. 
 Article 23
7: 
 
 The concerned party shall submit the purchase contracts or original invoices indicating therein the contract terms, as well as the documents  connected with the goods, duly approved by an 
entity specified or accepted by Customs Department. If it transpires to Customs Department that the 
documents, wholly or partly, or in some of their data, are incomplete or invalid, the department may 
not reckon with them. The concerned party shall be  informed in writing, and upon its request, of the 
reasons on which the decision of the Department is based.  
 
     
 
    
 
     
 
    
 
 ________________________________ 
6  Substituted as per Law No. 160/2000. 
7  Substituted as per Law No. 160/2000.  G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
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Ministry of Finance 
 
Ministerial Decree no. 10 for year 2006  
 
For the Promulgation of  
 
Executive Regulations Pursuant to Customs Law No. 66 for the Year 1963 
  
_______________ 
 
 
Valuation 
 
Article 14
 
 
 The Customs value of imported goods or comm odities in accordance to the provisions of the 
implementation of article 7 of the GATT Agreement, is  the transaction value, that is the price actually 
paid or payable when sold for export to Egypt adju sted to the costs incurred by the buyer but are not 
included in the price actually paid or payable for goods.  
 
 These costs include the following: 
a) Commissions and brokerage, except buying commissions. 
b) Containers cost together with the goods cost are considered as one unit for customs valuation 
purposes. 
c) The cost of packing whether for labour or materials. 
d) The value of the following goods and services supp lied by the buyer, directly or indirectly, 
free of charge or at a reduced cost, for u se in the production of the imported goods to the 
extent that this value has not been added to the price actually paid or payable: 
1. Materials, components, parts and similar items incorporated in the imported goods. 
2. Tools, dies, moulds and similar items u sed in the production of the imported goods.  
3. Materials consumed in the production of the imported goods.  
4. Engineering, development, artwork, design work, and plans and sketches 
undertaken elsewhere than in Egypt and required for the production of the imported 
goods. 
e) Royalties and license fees related to the goods that the buyer must pay, either directly or 
indirectly, as a condition of sale of the goods. 
f) The proceeds of any subsequent resale, disposal or use of the imported goods by the buyer 
will accrue to the seller, directly or indirectly. 
g) The cost of freight, transport and insurance of the imported goods and relevant costs of 
loading, unloading and handling charges associat ed with the transport of the imported goods 
to the port of destination. With regard to frei ght and insurance, in case of failure to submit an 
actual document, similar prices at a simultane ous date shall be adopted, determined on a 
monthly basis through a decree by the Customs Commissioner. 
 
Article 15  
 
When adding the costs stipulated in the previous  article, it is to be ta ken into consideration 
that they should be based on objective and quan titative data, and that they should be among the 
conditions of sale.  G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
Page 4  
 
 
 No addition shall be made to the price actua lly paid or payable on determining value for 
Customs purposes except in accordance with the provisions of the previous article unless it is one of 
the sale conditions.  
Article 16
 
 
 The value for Customs purposes does not include the following items: 
a) The cost of transport after importation. 
b) Duties and taxes imposed in Egypt. 
c) Charges for construction, erection, assembly, ma intenance or technical assistance, undertaken 
after importation on imported goods. 
d) Buying commissions. 
e) The costs of marketing activities within Egyp t, related to marketing the imported goods. 
f) The costs of engineering and plans, sketches ar tworks undertaken in Egypt and related to the 
imported goods being valued. 
g) The costs related to the right to remanufacture the imported goods in Egypt.  
h) Interests resulting from a financing contract. These interests are paid on a financing contract 
signed by the buyer, whether financing is provide d by the seller or by another party, provided 
that this contract is presented to the Customs Directorate on Customs Valuation. 
i) Profit shares presented from the buyer to the seller. 
 
 This is on condition that these costs be stat ed separately and distinguished from the price 
actually paid or payable for the imported goods.  
Article 17
 
 
 To accept the transaction value for custom pur poses, the following conditions must be met: 
a) That there are no restrictions on the disposition or use of the goods by the buyer other than 
restrictions which are: 
1. Imposed by law or Public Authorities in Egypt. 
2. Do not substantially affect the value of the goods. 
3. Limit the geographical area in which the goods may be resold. 
b) That the sale or price is not subject to a c ondition or consideration for which a value cannot 
be determined for goods being valued. 
c) That no part of the proceeds of any subsequent resale, disposal or use of the goods by the 
buyer will accrue to the seller, directly or indi rectly, unless this can be added to the value. 
d) That the buyer and seller are not related in su ch a way that affects the transaction value, 
whether they are natural or judicial persons. 
 
Article 18  
 
 In applying provisions of item (d) of the previ ous article, persons shall be considered to be 
related in any of the following  cases: 
- They are employer and employee. 
- If they are legally recognized partners in business. 
- If any person of them – directly or indirectly  – owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting 
stock or shares of both of them. 
- One of them directly or indirectly supervises the other. 
- Both of them are directly or indirectly supervised by a third person. 
- Together they directly or indirectly supervises a third person. 
- One of them is a responsible manager in a firm belonging to the other, or 
- They are members of the same family (kinship up to the fourth grade.  G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
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   Persons related through a busin ess relationship according to which one is the sole agent, 
distributor or franchise holder of the other shall be  considered related if any of these cases applies to 
them.  
Article 19
 
 
In case any of the relationships stipulated in  the previous article exists, the Customs 
Directorate shall examine the circumstances surrounding the transaction to ensure that the relationship 
did not influence the price of the goods being va lued. The Customs directorate may request the 
importer to submit information documents or justifi cations on the form prepared for that purpose. The 
importer shall be given an opportunity to respond, af ter consulting with the relevant manager of the 
complex, within a period not exceeding 30 days.  
 If the Customs Directorate still holds to the opini on that the relationship influenced the price, 
the importer or his agent may prove, within 30 days, that the relationship did not influence the price, 
and that the value declared is not less than the limit of 10% of one of the following values: 
a) The transaction value in sales to unrelated buyers of identical or similar goods for export to 
Egypt within 60 days before or after the da te of exportation of the goods being valued. 
b) The Customs value of identical or similar goods as determined under the provisions of Article 
22 and 23 of this decree. 
 
 In applying the foregoing tests, due acc ount shall be taken of the following: 
a) Differences in commercial le vels and quantity levels. 
b) The elements of costs and expenses enumerated in Article 14 of this decree. 
  The aforementioned tests are to be used at the initiative of the importer and for comparison 
purposes. Test values are not substituted for the values declared. 
 
 
Article 20
 
 
 The transaction value of goods and commodities shall not be applied according to Article 14 
of this decree in the following cases: 
a) Items imported for personal use.  
b) Some items in the invoice that do not represent the actual value and for which the importer 
cannot justify the value with documents acceptable by Customs. 
c) Gifts, donations, samples, and material s for propaganda and advertisements. 
d) Goods imported as a lease or deposits. 
e) Goods imported for the supplier, from the origin to the branch. 
 
Article 21  
 
 In case of doubting the truth and accuracy of th e value declared, the following action shall be 
taken: 
a) In case the Customs Authority has reason to doubt the truth and accuracy of the data or 
documents or of the value declared as the Cust oms value, prior to applying any other article 
for valuation, the customs complex shall notif y the importer/agent in writing of the reasons 
for doubt. The importer shall be given a reasona ble opportunity to respond, after consulting 
with the relevant manager of the complex, w ithin a period of time not exceeding 30 days of 
the date of notification of the importer/agent. 
b) If the documents submitted by the importer and th e justifications presented to prove the truth 
and accuracy of the value prove convincing to the valuation committee at the Customs Complex, the transaction value shall be accep ted. However, if the documents and the G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
Page 6  
 
 
 justifications presented to prove the truth and accuracy of the value prove unconvincing to the 
valuation committee at the Customs Complex, and also in case of the period of time granted in the previous article expires, the valuati on committee at the Customs Complex shall issue a 
written decision stating the case under dispute, and reasons and justifications for rejecting the 
transaction value. Upon request, the importer sh all be notified of the decision in writing. 
 
 
Article 22
 
 
If the Customs value of the imported goods cannot be determined according to the provisions 
of the previous of the previous article, the Custom s value shall be the transaction value of identical 
goods sold for export to Egypt within 60 days befo re or after the date of exportation of the goods 
being valued, at approximately the same commercial levels and quantity levels. 
 
In case the commercial levels or/and quantity leve ls or/and quantity  levels are different, the 
transaction value of identical goods sold at a comme rcial level and/or in different quantities after 
adjustment to take account of differences attributable  to commercial level and/or to quantity, shall be 
used, provided that such adjustments can be ma de on the basis of demonstrated evidence which 
clearly establishes the accuracy of the adjustment, whether the adjust ment leads to an increase or a 
decrease in the value of the identical goods.   
If more than one transaction value of identical goods is found, the lowest value shall be used 
to determine the Customs value of the goods being valued.  
Article 23
 
 
If the Customs value of the goods being valu ed cannot be determined according to the 
provisions of the previous articles, the Customs va lue shall be the transaction value of similar goods 
sold for export to Egypt. Provisions of Article 22 of this decree shall apply in this concern. 
 
Article 24  
 
If the Customs value of the imported goods cannot  be determined under the provisions of the 
previous articles, the Customs value shall be de termined under the provisions of the following two 
Articles, unless the importer requests to reverse the order of the application of these Articles provided that the Customs Directorate approves.  
 
Article 25
 
 
 If the imported goods are sold in the condition as imported, the following action shall be 
followed: 
a) The Customs value of the imported goods under the provisions of this Article shall be based 
on the unit price at which the same imported goods or identical or similar goods are so sold 
on the local market in the condition as imported,  in the greatest aggregate quantity, within 60 
days before or after the date of arrival of th e goods being valued in Egypt, to persons who are 
not related, after the deductions of the following: 
1. The commissions usually paid or agreed to be  paid form the supplier to the importer, 
usually made in accordance with the prev ailing commercial practices or the total 
profit and general expenses in connection with sales in Egypt of imported goods of 
the same class or kind. 
2. The usual costs of transport and insurance and associated costs incurred within Egypt.  G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
 Page 7 
 
 
  3. The Customs duties and other national taxes payable in Egypt in connection with the 
importation or sale of the goods. 
b) If neither the imported goods nor identical nor similar goods are sold in the domestic market 
during the period referred to in pa ragraph (a) of this article, the Customs value shall be based 
on the unit price at which the imported goods or identical or similar imported goods are sold 
in Egypt in the condition as imported within a period not exceeding 90 days of the arrival of 
the goods being valued. 
  If the imported goods are sold after processing: 
a) If neither the imported goods nor identical nor similar imported goods are sold in the country 
of importation in the condition as imported, then , the Customs value shall be based on the unit 
price at which the imported goods, after further processing, are sold in the greatest aggregate 
quantity to persons who are not related, due allowance being made for the value added by 
such processing and the deductions provided for in paragraph 1 of this article. 
b) Deductions made for the value added by furt her processing shall be based on objective and 
quantifiable data based on actual documents and da ta out of registers, relating to the accurate 
costs of such work. 
 
 In applying this Article, the following shall be taken into consideration: 
a) Any sale to person who supplies directly or indirec tly free of charge or at reduced cost for use 
in connection with the production of the imported goods any of the elements specified in 
paragraph (d) of Article 14 of this decree, sh all not be taken into account in establishing the 
unit price for the purposes of this Article. 
b) The unit price in the domestic market for importe d goods shall be obtained out of the registers 
and books of the importer of the goods being valued , or the importers of identical or similar 
imported goods. 
c) Deductions made from the unit price to reach the Customs value shall be based on objective 
and quantifiable data. 
d) "Profit and general expenses" s hould be taken as a whole. The figure for the purposes of this 
deduction should be determined on the basis of information supplied by or on behalf of the 
importer/agent, provided that the importer's info rmation be consistent with that obtained in 
sales in the country of importation of imported goods of the same class or kind. Goods of the 
same class or kind include goods imported from the same country of importation of the goods 
being valued, in addition to goods imported fro m other countries. The "general expenses" 
include the direct and indirect costs of marketing the goods being valued. 
 
 Accounting principles and commercial practices used  to apply provisions of this Article shall 
be those applied in Egypt. 
 
Article 26
 
 
 If the Customs value of the imported goods cannot  be determined under the provisions of the 
previous articles, the Customs value of imported goods shall be based on a computed value consisting 
of the following elements: 
a) The cost or value of materials and fabrication or other processing employed in producing the 
imported goods. 
b) An amount for profit and general expenses equal to  that usually reflected in sales of goods of 
the same type or kind as the goods being valued which are made by producers in the country 
of production, profit and general e xpenses should be taken as a whole. 
c) The cost or value of all other expenses related to transport, insurance, loading, unloading and 
handling. 
 G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
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  Accounting principles and commercial practices used  to apply provisions of this article shall 
be those applied in the country of production.  
Article 27
 
 
 If the Customs value of the imported goods cannot  be determined under the provisions of the 
previous articles, the Customs value of imported goods shall be determined using the same methods 
stipulated in these articles, but with a reasonable flexibility which may be applied according to this 
article: 
a) If there are neither identical nor similar impor ted goods exported to Egypt within the periods 
stated in the previous articles, the Customs va lue can be based on the value of identical or 
similar goods exported to Egypt within 120 days before or after the date of export of the 
goods being valued.  
b) If there are neither identical nor similar goods imported from the same producer of the goods 
being valued, the Customs value can be based  on the value of identical or similar goods 
imported by another producer in the same country of origin. If this is not available, the 
Customs value can be based on the value of identical or similar goods imported from another country. 
c) The Customs value may be based on values of identical or similar goods determined under 
the provisions of either Article 22 or 23 of this decree. 
d) If there is no sale price of the imported goods being valued, or identical or similar goods in 
the domestic market within the periods stated in  Article 25 of this decree, the Customs value 
may be based on the unit price in the domestic market within 180 days of the date of importation. 
 
If the importer so requests, the importer should be  informed of the Customs value determined 
under the provisions of this Article and th e method used to determine such value. 
  
Article 28
 
 
 No Customs value shall be determined under the provisions of the previous Article on the 
basis of: 
a) The selling price of the locally produced unit in the domestic market. 
b) Any system which provides for the acceptance for Customs purposes, of the higher of two 
alternative values. 
c) The price of goods on the domestic market of  the country of exportation or production. 
d) The cost of production other than computed valu es which have been determined in Article 26 
of this decree. 
e) The price of the goods for export to a country other than Egypt. 
f) Minimum Customs values or (arbitrary) fictitious values. 
 
Article 29  
 
Used cars imported for personal or private use shall be offered a discount of 10% of the 
F.O.B. value as of the beginning of October in the year of manufacturing the model till the end of September in the following year, provided that they comply with the rules of importation. 
 
The aforementioned cars imported after that date  shall be offered a discount of 5% for each 
following year as of the beginning of October of each year, without prejudice to the discount and provisions referred to in the previous paragraph. 
  G/VAL/N/1/EGY/1 
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  The discount rates stipulated in the prev ious 2 paragraphs shall not exceed 50%. 
Article 30  
 
An importer or whomever he legally aut horizes shall furnish the following documents: 
a) Completed Value Declaration with the original commercial invoice, endorsed by the 
chambers of commerce, and other documents re lated to the costs and expenses of freight, 
insurance and all the expenses and charges in curred as a result of importation of the goods 
until discharge in the port of arrival attached  thereto. The commercial invoice shall include 
full data including the name of the seller and buy er, the total sum paid or payable, complete 
description of the imported goods, and terms and conditions of contract. 
b) Contracts, correspondences, letters of cred it and other documents necessary to evidence 
accuracy of the transaction value required by the Customs Authority if required for specification of value. 
 
Article 31
 
 
 Goods may be released at the importer's requ est after submission of a financial guarantee 
equal to the amount of Customs taxes and other duti es and taxes, if determination of value as a basis 
for the tax takes time to submit documents or explanations for the purposes of valuation. 
 
Article 32  
 
Information confidential by nature or conf idential information submitted for purposes of 
Customs valuation shall be treated as strictly conf idential by Customs authorities. Such information 
will not be disclosed without a specified permit from the person or government that has submitted such information except to the extent requiring di sclosure in the context of judicial procedures. 
 
Article 33
 
 
 Upon written request, submitted to the manager of  the Customs post, the importer shall have 
the right to have an explanation in writing fro m Customs, as to how the Customs value of the 
commodity subject to valuation has been determined. 
 
Article 34  
 
 An importer or whoever he legally authorizes, has the right to file an appeal against the 
decision of the Customs valuation committee of the Customs post to the relevant post manager, 
general director or head of central directorate before restoring to arbitration. 
 
Article 35  
 
 If the value of the imported goods is specified  in foreign currency, such value shall be 
converted to Egyptian currency as per the Central Ba nk closing rate of exchange of the respective 
foreign currency on the last working day prior to the date of registration of the Customs declaration. 
 
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