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Egypt’s New ACI Pre-shipment Procedure Explained

The Egyptian Government has introduced a new National Single Window for Foreign Trade Facilitation called Nafeza. Nafeza aims to simplify shipping procedures, save time and costs, and provide extra security for the electronic transfer of shipping documents.

CargoX is Nafeza’s official service provider. CargoX is a digital platform that allows importers and exporters to securely transfer shipping documents using blockchain technology. A unique ACID (Advance Cargo Information Declaration) number is issued via CargoX for each shipment. The Egyptian government introduced the new ACI pre-shipment system on 1 April 2021, the new system will be mandatory for all seafreight shipments from 1 October 2021. The ACI procedures currently do not apply to land- or airfreight. It is important to note that any shipments prepared prior to 1 October via the old method (and they therefore do not have the ACID number listed) will be allowed to enter Egypt, even when the shipment arrives at the Egyptian port after 1 October. Any shipments prepared from 1 October will need to be submitted via CargoX and shipping documents need to show the ACID number.

Egyptian Importer

  1. Register with Nafeza
  2. Create an account on CargoX
  3. Fill out pre-import shipping information for each shipment (this includes information about the Egyptian importer, the overseas exporter and the shipment itself)
  4. The import is approved within 48 hours, before physical shipment of the goods
  5. A unique ACID number is issued for the import which is automatically sent to the Egyptian importer and overseas exporter
  6. When the shipment arrives in Egypt, goods are released immediately without delay.

Overseas Exporter

  1. The overseas exporter needs to create an account on CargoX (if the exporter opts to use a freight forwarder or broker to handle their shipping documents, please note that they can handle arrangements on behalf of the exporter)
  2. The overseas exporter automatically receives a unique ACID number after the pre-import shipping request submitted by the Egyptian importer is approved
  3. The overseas exporter needs to include this ACID number on all required shipping documentation (these include a Certificate of Origin, Invoice, Bill of Lading and Packing List and any other documents requested by the importer)
  4. The overseas exporter needs to upload all required shipping documents onto the CargoX platform, digitally sign and transfer the documents to the recipients.

To learn more about Egyptian ACI filing via the CargoX system, please watch this demo.