 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 24 Feb. - 1 March 2000 Issue No. 470 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 24 Feb. - 1 March 2000 Issue No. 470
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Heritage Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The customary reservations
By Mona El-Fiqi
The recent cluster of government decrees concerning import procedures have elicited predictably mixed reactions.
One of the three decrees issued in early February delays the standardisation of customs duties, as demanded by GATT, the reason given being that local industry remains in need of protection.
According to GATT regulations, customs on imports must be exacted at a rate based on the value of those imports at their point of origin. The article stipulating this should have come into force in January, but the new government decree delays its implementation until next July.
The second decree, issued by the Ministry of Economy and External Trade, will exempt importers from customs inspections providing that they can prove that they are of "good record" -- i.e., show that ten consignments have already been imported by the company without any violation of current regulations.
The final decree of the triumvirate provides that only the portion of a consignment which violates import regulations will be barred from entry. Previously, entire consignments would be held by customs if any of their contents violated the import regulations enforced by a large number of individual agencies, which required importers to negotiate a veritable bureaucratic maze. Henceforth, the decree states, officials from all of the relevant bodies -- including the Health, Electricity, Nuclear and General Authority for Exports and Imports Control, will be available on site to facilitate speedy inspection.
Critics allege that the delay in implementing GATT articles violates Egypt's commitments as a member of the WTO, and allows for the government to interfere in the market to protect local industries -- such as recently happened with sugar imports -- on a purely arbitrary basis. They point, too, to the difficulties of adequately policing the second decree, which involves the compilation of a list by the Ministry of Economy. The decree also insists that importers secure approval from the producers that employees from the General Authority for Exports and Imports Control be permitted to inspect quality control regimens.
"How can we possibly expect multinational companies and international institutions to agree to such conditions, " asks Mustafa Zaki, chairman of the Importers' Division at the Federation of Chambers of Commmerce.
