The extra procedure of customs declaration at airports did not disrupt passenger flow, but there were still objections, reports Amirah Ibrahim Whereas many were worried that the recently- imposed regulation by the Egyptian Customs Administration (ECA) of signing a customs declaration form would cause havoc at airport terminals, it hasn't been the case since the regulation was enforced a fortnight ago. There have been protests, however, from several quarters about declaring passengers' possessions. The new procedure stipulates that all travelers, whether Egyptians or foreigners, must declare the amount of money they are carrying if it is over $10,000. They must also declare all the contents of their luggage. The ECA explained the decision by saying that it falls in line with the state's policy of combating money laundering. "Customs officials have succeeded several times in uncovering attempts to smuggle large amounts of money in passenger luggage," explained Ayman El-Baqly, head of the Cairo International Central Customs Committee, to Al-Ahram Weekly. "In some cases, the amounts ranged between $20-35 million. Why would anybody travel with such large amounts of money if it were not for laundering purposes?" Since travellers from Western countries mainly rely on credit cards, they do not seem to have any issues with the procedure. Robert, a British computer science teacher who works in Egypt, was very understanding and accepting of the new procedure. "Many countries require travellers to declare the money they are carrying if it is over a certain amount set by the state," he acknowledged. "It is the right of every country to adopt the regulations and laws that protect its people against international crimes." Robert continued that since Egypt contributes to keeping the peace in the region, "it has every right to apply the regulations which help it carry out its responsibilities. We have such laws and procedures in Europe [and] I do not see any wrong with it." But it is a different story, for Arab visitors. A Kuwaiti passenger adamantly refused to declare the contents of her luggage or how much money she was carrying. "If my country does not require me to declare my possessions, why should I do it here?" she asked in protest. Arab travelers in principle prefer to carry cash or gold rather than credit cards, and since the rate of exchange is mostly in favour of their home currencies they arrive with huge amounts of Egyptian money. Ironically, strong protests also came from an unlikely quarter: top Egyptian officials. According to press reports, upon his arrival from Qatar last weekend, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni refused to sign the customs declaration form which was eventually signed by a subordinate at his ministry. On Friday, Governor of the Central Bank Farouk El-Oqda was also reported to have refused to sign, voicing his objection to the procedure. Meanwhile, the Head of the Labour Union Hussein Megawer refused to declare his possessions and a subordinate at the union signed in his place, the reports said. As for fears of congestion, because of halls packed with waiting passengers, last week at Cairo International Airport's arrival halls 1 and 3 some 20 flights landed and took off within three hours at peak traffic without any delays. "Passengers who visited Egypt before were surprised at the beginning and appeared disturbed, but those who were visiting the country for the first time were not concerned, since this is a procedure that is undertaken in many airports in the West," said Ramy Boutros, a tour guide who had just completed procedures for a tourist group arriving from Korea. Kim Lee, an engineer who, with his family, will be visiting Luxor and Aswan for a week, suggested that the declaration form be distributed on board the flight. "We have a lot of time on the plane to fill such documents and ask about details while we are rested in our seats," Lee told the Weekly. "But here at the airport, everyone is in a hurry to get out." Altogether, it took this family three minutes to complete the procedure. Lee's idea had already been tested, but so far failed because of non-compliance by airlines. "We have already provided airlines with thousands of customs declaration forms to distribute on board arriving flights and booking offices for departing passengers," noted El-Baqly. "But the airlines did not appear to have carried out the agreement, and so we need to discuss this issue with them further." Tour guide Boutros noted that passengers at Cairo International Airport are luckier than others because there are enough travel agent representatives and airport staff to assist them in many languages. "Since the form is only written in Arabic and English, it is the responsibility of tour guides to translate it into other languages," he added. "Sometimes we even help airport staff translate into Italian, Russian or Japanese." Indeed, at Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada airports passengers suffered during the first few days of implementation of the procedures, because of the lack of translators. "The first week was not so good for us," admitted Yousri Gamaleddin, the manager of Sharm El-Sheikh Airport, "but we eventually made available translators versed in the Russian, Italian and French languages, which are the mother-tongue of the majority of our passengers."
