Industrial machinery
exported to Egypt

Release in Egypt turns on one number agreeing with itself across four papers. Decree 38/2021 requires the consignment file to pass the NAFEZA single window 48 hours before arrival. The Egyptian importer registers there and generates a 19-digit ACID, and the exporter lodges the matching envelope through CargoX. That number then has to read the same on:

• the bill of lading;
• the commercial invoice;
• the packing list;
• the certificate of origin.

Cargo arriving without a valid, matched number is not released, and a disagreement between any two of those four documents is as costly as having no number at all. Seaports have worked this way since October 2021 and air freight since 1 January 2026. The number belongs to the buyer, so have it in hand before loading.

Arabic goes on before the crate is closed

Language reaches back into production here. Finished goods for distribution and sale must bear Arabic labelling giving country of origin, the manufacturer's name and a product description, and an importer may not stick labels on after the goods have landed, which makes the label a factory job. Tools and machinery attract a further obligation: an Arabic catalogue covering illustrated parts, assembly and operation, maintenance, circuits and safety measures. Data on the equipment must agree with the packaging, and origin must be marked indelibly on each item. Artwork and translation are production matters, not shipping ones.

Five per cent, not fourteen

Article 3 of VAT Law 67/2016 rates machines and equipment used in making a commodity or supplying a service at 5 per cent in place of the standard 14, and Article 28 bis suspends the tax on machinery for factories for a year from release, extendable, on condition the equipment is genuinely put to production use in that period, with a refund route under Article 30(4). Duty splits the same way: machines for industrial purposes generally fall in a 0 to 5 per cent band, while trucks and heavy equipment attract 10 to 20 per cent. An order carrying both a processing line and the vehicles to move it therefore holds two tax profiles in one invoice.

What GOEIC does and does not ask for

Foreign factory registration under Ministerial Decree 43/2016 bites only on an annex of 25 consumer categories; industrial machinery, cold-storage plant, processing lines and construction plant are not among them, although item 17 reaches into the HS 8418 range, so exact refrigeration codes should be checked. A Certificate of Inspection for regulated products is a separate matter, issued per shipment by an accredited body, and published scopes refer to mechanical products on an include-but-not-limited-to basis. Whether a given machinery code sits in that bucket is unsettled, so put the question to the buyer's broker at quotation.

The consulate route still stands

Chinese documents are authenticated at the Egyptian consulate in the country of origin: the invoice needs legalisation in most cases and the certificate of origin consular authentication. Apostille does not serve here, unlike in some neighbouring markets, so the embassy step stays in the timetable. For cargo bound for Cairo and Upper Egypt, Ain Sokhna and Adabiya on the Red Sea are the natural discharge, while Alexandria and El Dekheila remain the Mediterranean gateway for home-consumption goods. Public contracts run under Law 182 of 2018, with notices at etenders.gov.eg in Arabic. Supply is 220 V at 50 Hz on Type C and F outlets. We sell equipment and not aftercare: no parts counter and no service department stands behind a shipment, and commissioning, operator training and warranty exist only so far as the contract sets them out.