The ACI procedures for air freight have been postponed until further notice.

These procedures were due to become mandatory for airfreight shipments from 1 January 2023, this meant that any air shipments prepared from 1 January would need to be submitted via CargoX and shipping documents would need to show the ACID number, following the already implemented procedures for seafreight. However, in response to the business community, the ministry of finance has announced that the mandatory airfreight pre-registration system ACI has been postponed until the global and local economic conditions stabilise.

H.E. Dr. Mohamed Maait Egyptian Minister of Finance said ‘The ministry is keen to provide the longest possible period of time for importers, customs extractors, air freight agents, companies exporting to Egypt and international multinational companies to complete their preparations to deal with the new system, in a way that ensures benefiting from the facilities provided by ACI, reaching the highest levels of governance for commodity imports to Egyptian ports, and adhering to quality standards for imported goods.’

The ACID number is a unique reference number that both the Egyptian importer and the foreign exporter need to obtain through Nafeza’s official service provider CargoX. In April 2021, the Egyptian Government introduced the National Single Window for Foreign Trade Facilitation called Nafeza. This system aims to simplify shipping procedures, save time and costs, and provide extra security for the electronic transfer of shipping documents and is fed through CargoX, 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.

Find the platform user manual for CargoX. Read the Egyptian Ministry of Finance article (available in Arabic only)

For more information about shipments to Egypt and Trade documentation, you can email us at tradeenquiries@londonchamber.co.uk