Importing from China to Egypt: what has to be done before the goods ship
Egypt checks imports before they arrive, so three things must be settled while the goods are still in China. For listed goods the Chinese factory must be on the GOEIC register. The Egyptian importer must obtain an ACID number through the Nafeza single window, filed at least 48 hours before the cargo ships. And the exporter must carry that ACID on every document.
Egypt front-loads its import controls. The factory register, the ACID number and document legalisation all have to be settled while the goods are in China.
The factory has to be on the register before you can buy from it
Egypt operates a register of factories and brand owners entitled to export listed products to the country, run by the General Organization for Export and Import Control. Its legal basis is Ministerial Decree 43 of 2016, amended by Decree 195 of 2022. GOEIC's own statement of the rule is that listed products may be released only if they were produced by a registered factory, or imported from a registered brand owner or distribution centre.
Read what that does to a sourcing process. The constraint attaches to the factory, not to the product, and it binds before price is ever discussed: a Chinese factory that is not on the register cannot supply listed goods to Egypt commercially, no matter how good its quotation is. A buyer who negotiates first and checks the register afterwards has to start again.
So the register is the first filter, ahead of price, lead time and sample quality. Registration is something the factory or brand owner applies for, not something the Egyptian buyer can do on its behalf, which is the practical reason to have someone checking it at the China end before you invest time in a supplier. Whether your specific product is on the listed schedule is a question for GOEIC or your customs broker, and the schedule has been amended, so confirm the current version rather than an older summary of it.
The ACID number, and why it is an exporter problem as much as an importer one
Since October 2021 Egypt has run Advance Cargo Information through Nafeza, its national single window for foreign trade, established by Ministry of Finance Decree 38 of 2021 and rolled out in phases from April 2021. The importer registers on the Nafeza portal and obtains an Advance Cargo Information identification number, the ACID, before import operations begin.
The timing is the part that catches first shipments. Nafeza's own guidance is that the cargo data and documents are submitted at least 48 hours before the cargo ships from the export country, not 48 hours before it arrives in Egypt. That deadline therefore falls in China, while the goods are still on the factory floor or at the port, and it is measured against a sailing date that a forwarder may move.
The obligation is then split across two parties in two countries, which is why it goes wrong. The Egyptian importer obtains the ACID; the Chinese exporter has to put that number on the commercial invoice, the packing list, the certificate of origin and the bill of lading, and send the documents electronically through an approved blockchain service provider, with CargoX being the one Nafeza names. A supplier who has never shipped to Egypt will not know any of this unless you tell them, and the failure surfaces only when the goods are already afloat.
| Requirement | Whose job | When |
|---|---|---|
| GOEIC registration of the factory or brand owner, for listed goods | The Chinese factory or brand owner applies; the buyer checks before choosing it | Before you commit to the supplier |
| ACID number from the Nafeza single window | The Egyptian importer | Data filed at least 48 hours before the cargo ships from China |
| ACID on every shipping document, sent electronically | The Chinese exporter | Before the vessel departs |
| Consular legalisation of the commercial invoice and certificate of origin | The Chinese exporter, at the Egyptian consulate | Before the documents travel |
Documents have to be legalised, and that happens in China
Egypt requires the commercial invoice and the certificate of origin to be legalised by the Egyptian consulate, with the invoice presented as an original plus copies. That is not a formality your broker can complete in Cairo after the goods land. It is done where the documents originate, which for your order means China.
Build the time and the cost into the schedule rather than discovering them at the end. Consular legalisation adds steps between the factory issuing an invoice and the documents being ready to travel, and the documents have to agree with each other and with the ACID filing. A mismatch between the invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading is a routine reason for a consignment to stall, and it is entirely avoidable at the point the documents are drawn up.
The general discipline that applies here is the one in our guide on customs clearance documents: the documents are a set, and they are checked against each other. The Egyptian specifics differ from the UK ones, but that principle does not.
Paying for it, and why the answer has changed more than once
Egypt's rules on how an import may be paid for have moved repeatedly, and any confident statement about the current position deserves suspicion, including this one. The US government's Egypt guide records that the Central Bank of Egypt halted documentary collection operations in February 2022, requiring letters of credit to be covered 100 per cent in cash by the importer, with an exception for some food items, and that by October 2022 it had decided to cancel the letter-of-credit requirement gradually and permit collection documents again.
The point of that history is not the detail, which may have moved again by the time you read this. It is that the payment mechanism for an Egyptian import is set by policy that changes, not by what you and the supplier would prefer, and that a change lands on orders already in production. So confirm the current position with your own bank before you agree terms with a factory, and ask what happens to an order in flight if the rule changes.
That has a direct consequence for negotiation. A Chinese supplier who has agreed a deposit and a balance against copy documents may not accept a letter of credit instead, and a letter of credit has its own cost and its own discipline: the bank pays against documents that match, not against goods that are right. Agree which mechanism applies, in writing, before production starts. Our payment guide covers how each one actually works.
What we can do for an Egyptian buyer, and what we cannot
Our depth is the United Kingdom and we do not claim otherwise. What we do for a buyer anywhere is the China half of the order: finding and vetting the factory, checking it against a registration requirement like the GOEIC one before you invest time in it, negotiating, sampling, inspecting before payment, and getting the goods documented, packed and loaded. Making sure the ACID reaches the exporter's documents, and that the documents agree with each other, is work that has to happen at the China end, and that is where we are.
On commercial terms, we can quote a price to your own destination port, so Alexandria, Port Said or Damietta, and ex-works or a price to a Chinese port is there instead if your own freight forwarder is handling the sea leg. Door-to-door delivery with duty and taxes included depends on the destination; ask, and we will tell you plainly which one yours is rather than quoting first and discovering later.
What we do not do is advise on Egyptian import law or act as your customs broker. Egypt restricts who may import commercially, the tariff and the listed-goods schedule are matters for GOEIC and Egyptian Customs, and nothing here is a substitute for a broker licensed in Egypt and appointed early. Tell us the product and say that the goods are going to Egypt in the first message, because it changes the answer to almost everything else. The wider picture for buyers outside the UK is in the guide to buying from China from anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ACID number and when do I need it?
It is the Advance Cargo Information identification number issued through Nafeza, Egypt's national single window, which the Egyptian importer obtains before import operations begin. Nafeza's guidance is that the cargo data and documents are filed at least 48 hours before the cargo ships from the export country, so the deadline falls in China rather than on arrival in Egypt.
Can I buy from any Chinese factory if I am importing to Egypt?
Not for listed goods. Egypt runs a GOEIC register of factories and brand owners entitled to export listed products, under Ministerial Decree 43 of 2016 as amended by Decree 195 of 2022, and those goods may be released only if produced by a registered factory or imported from a registered brand owner or distribution centre. Check the register before you negotiate, not after.
What does my Chinese supplier have to do for an Egyptian shipment?
Carry the ACID number on the commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and bill of lading, send those documents electronically through an approved provider such as CargoX, and have the commercial invoice and certificate of origin legalised by the Egyptian consulate. A supplier who has not shipped to Egypt before will not know this unless you tell them.
Do you deliver to Egypt?
We can quote a price to Alexandria, Port Said or Damietta, and ex-works or a price to a Chinese port if your own freight forwarder is taking the sea leg. Door-to-door with duty and taxes included depends on the destination, so ask rather than assume. We do not advise on Egyptian import law and are not your customs broker; appoint one in Egypt early.