Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly convened a meeting with key government officials to monitor the progress of customs clearance of goods at ports and the implementation of the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system. At the outset, Prime Minister Madbouly reiterated his commitment to expediting the customs clearance process for goods awaiting release at various Egyptian ports. This initiative is bolstered by the availability of foreign currency in banks, aiming to increase the supply of essential commodities, industrial production inputs, medicines, and other necessities in the Egyptian market. In line with the Prime Minister's directives to address the accumulation of unclaimed goods at customs ports, the Minister of Finance reported that the Egyptian Customs Authority has issued Circular No. 180/2024. This directive mandates customs administrations to initiate procedures for designating goods as unclaimed and to commence the sale of these goods, under Customs Law No. 207/2020 and its executive regulations, effective from the beginning of April. Cabinet spokesperson Mohamed El-Homsani highlighted that the meeting included a review of the value of goods registered, approved, and cleared through customs up to March 31, 2024. There has been a notable increase in this value in recent weeks, following the enhanced availability of foreign exchange for releasing the designated goods. Furthermore, the meeting assessed the status of the ACI system, a pre-registration mechanism for cargo shipments. The discussion covered the values of goods currently registered within the system, as well as those already in place.
