Notifications for Egypt (147 notifications)

This draft standard specifies the basic requirements and the descriptive standards for "Poultry meat-mechanically separated".

This addendum concerns the notification of the Ministerial Decree No. 90/2021 (1 page, in Arabic) which extends the transitional period for twelve months starting from 3 April 2021 for the entry into force of clause No. 4/3/1 on "Percentage of the moisture content shall be not more than 13.5% (by weight)" in the Egyptian Standard ES 1601-1/2010. It should be noted that the Egyptian Standard 1601-1/2010: Essential requirements for wheat (Triticum aestivum) was formerly notified in G/SPS/N/EGY/39 dated 2 July 2010. Proposed date of adoption: 17 February 2021Proposed date of entry into force: 3 April 2021

The Ministerial Decree No. 30/2021 gives the producers and importers a six-month transitional period to abide by this decree. This decree deletes the item that is concerned with the thiobarbituric acid percentage in Egyptian standards for meat, poultry and fish and its products which: - Firstly: detect the rancidity in meat and poultry and its products, based on the numbers of peroxide and acid that are mentioned in the Codex Standard No. 211/1999 on "Standard for Named Animal Fats", amendments 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019; - Secondly: detect the rancidity in fish and its products, based on the numbers of peroxide and anisidine that are mentioned in the Codex Standard No. 329/2017 on "Fish oils".

This addendum concerns the notification of the Ministerial Decree No. 653/2020 which extends the shelf life date to be nine months in case of frozen fish and to be ten months in case of frozen liver from the date of slaughter. This decree is valid until 30 June 2021 which concerns the Egyptian Standard ES 2613-2/2008 for "Shelf life for food products part 2: shelf life" (18 pages, in Arabic). It should be noted that the Egyptian Standard ES 2613-2/2008 for "Shelf life for food products part 2" and its Ministerial Decree No. 209/2020 (2 pages, in Arabic) were formerly notified in G/SPS/N/EGY/92/Add.1 dated 3 June 2020 mandated -among other things- the earlier version of this Egyptian Standard. Worth mentioning is that this Standard has been formulated according to National Studies and its updates. Producers and importers are kept informed of any amendments in the Egyptian standard through the publication of administrative orders in the Official Gazette. Proposed date of adoption: 30 December 2020Proposed date of entry into force: 17 January 2021

This draft of Egyptian Standard ES 494-2 specifies material, performance requirements and test methods for table cutlery (knives, forks, spoons, carving sets, ladles, children's cutlery and other serving pieces).This Standard is applicable to stainless steel cutlery and to silver-plated nickel silver, or silver-plated stainless steel, cutlery.It does not cover cutlery made wholly of precious metals, aluminium, non stainless steel or made entirely of nickel silver, nor does it cover gold-plated or chromium-plated cutlery. Three minimum thicknesses of silver are specified for silver-plated cutlery. Worth mentioning is that this draft standard is technically identical with ISO 8442-2/1997 (confirmed in 2019).

Seed potatoes import mechanism to be applied for imports starting of season 2021/2022 from currently approved origins for exporting potato seeds to Egypt.

To enhance food control system the present decision aims at determining the additives authorised to be used in food which is handled in the Arab Republic of Egypt in accordance with the food definition set forth in law.1 of the year 2017. It is worth mentioning that a six-month transitional period is granted to abide by this decision from the date of its effectiveness.

In the framework of developing modern approaches to the control system of food imports, the board of directors of NFSA has issued this decision which ensures simplified clearance procedures for food imports based on the level of associated risk, as well as protecting the consumers from imported food associated risks.This decision encompasses the following regulatory requirements: The conditions for recognizing the control measures of an exporting country's competent food authority as part of assessing the compliance of imported food consignments originating from that country; Pre-arrival notification requirements for imported food consignments and the pre-arrival processing provisions based on the possible risk levels associated with the imported food consignments; The conditions for the release of imported food consignments including sampling and laboratory analysis and release under custody.

This Decision regulates the procedures and requirements to obtain a license to import food into the Arab Republic of Egypt. This measure is necessary to ensure the safety and compliance of imported food. In addition, this decision lays down the administrative and financial obligations of the food importers, the enforcement measures and the responsibilities of NFSA.This decision has provided a six months transitional period for currently operating food importers to obtain the stipulated license and be registered at NFSA in order to ensure the smooth flow of trade and avoid any trade disruptions.This measure will enhance the clearance procedures of imported food consignments by requiring the importers to verify the application of the relevant preventive measures by foreign suppliers, as well as the ability to ensure optimum traceability of products.Moreover, NFSA has issued this decision to enhance its ability to control and evaluate food importers and ensure their compliance with the food safety requirements. Moving forward, the history of food importers' compliance with requirements will be an essential pillar of assessing the risk of imported food consignments. These new rules will have an impact on the protection of the consumer against the risks associated with imported food.

Based on risk analysis principles and in response to COVID-19 this decision provides for a temporarily reduction in the percentage of consignments of imported Food raw materials and final food products subjected to inspection to be 25% Provided that: The imported food raw materials consignments are imported by food establishments registered in the "white list" at the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA). Conditions for registration in the "white list" can be found at the NFSA website(www.nfsa.gov.eg). The final food products fall under the auspices of Decision No.2/2020 of the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA), where by the consignments are  accompanied by a pre-shipment Certificate of Conformity (COC's) through a conformity assessment body that  is registered and accredited at the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA) according to Decision No.2/2020. The NFSA Chairman may change the percentage of inspection of imports of Food products and raw materials in accordance with any changes that may occur.  This decision shall be implemented until 31 October 2020.

This decision establishes a mechanism for the registration of Conformity Assessment Bodies that issue certificates of inspection and conformity for food consignments imported into Egypt. This decision organises the registration requirements and procedures, enforcement, technical and financial obligations of the Conformity Assessment Bodies required to conduct valid pre-shipment inspection. Moreover, this decision allows the Chairman of the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA) to conclude Agreements and Memorandum of Understanding with International and Regional Authorities and Bodies on mutual recognition of food safety control systems to provide the required level of protection. This measure will reduce the time of inspections at the border and accelerate the release time of the food consignments imported into Egypt, while ensuring credibility in the issued certificates. Worth mentioning is that this decision complies with international Principles and guidelines.

This decision regulates the Validity Certificate issued by the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA), upon the request of the competent authority in the importing country, or the exporter of food consignments, in the form and format agreed upon and in accordance with the rules and procedures provided for in the Decision. NFSA may verify the extent to which exported food consignments fulfil the food safety requirements of importing countries and other procedures and mechanisms provided for in the provisions of this Decision. The purpose of this Decision is to simplify the process of issuing Export Validity Certificates and related documentation and to prevent the use of fraudulent certificates. In addition, it expedites the clearance process while meeting the importing country requirements. The certification acts as an assurance that the exported Egyptian food products comply with the applicable standards and requirements at the country of destination as requested. Worth mentioning is that this decision complies with international Guidelines.

This Decision regulates the procedures for the registration of certification bodies granting certificates of food safety management systems (FSMS) with the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA). The regulatory procedures provided in this Decision aim to enhance the credibility in using food safety certificates. The regulation aims to confront the illegal practices of issuing such certificates to gain the confidence of all stakeholders and to raise the consumer confidence in the safety of food products available in the market and support the competitiveness of Egyptian food products to have access to global markets.

-The Egyptian NPPO has established an Electronic Platform for the confirmation of authenticity of Egyptian phytosanitary certificates through the following link http://www.capq.gov.eg/Exporting/PhytosanitaryCertificate/Index as a trade facilitating measure and to overcome the challenges of exchanging the phytosanitary certificates within Covid-19 outbreak, -Through this platform, trading partners can easily confirm the authenticity of the Egyptian phytosanitary certificates which could be a copy delivered by the exporter / importer by entering the certificate number and login with a secured password then the original phytosanitary certificate will be downloaded and authenticity can be confirmed. -All trading partners who are interested in using the this platform shall send an official request to the NPPO of Egypt through ippc@capq.gov.eg & ippc.egypt@gmail.com and the NPPO will provide a password according to the request sent.

Ministerial Decree No. 173/2020 that gives the producers and importers a six-month transitional period to abide by the Egyptian standard ES 5021 Chilled shrimp.

Ministerial Decree No. 173/2020 that gives the producers and importers a six-month transitional period to abide by the Egyptian standard ES 516 for frozen shrimp.

This addendum concerns the notification of the Ministerial Decree No. 173/2020 that gives the producers and importers a six-month transitional period to abide by the Egyptian Standard ES 1008-12 for soft cheese - part: 12 feta cheese.It should be noted that an earlier version of this draft Egyptian Standard was formerly notified in G/SPS/N/EGY/102 dated 10 February 2020.Worth mentioning that this standard has been formulated according to National studies.Producers and importers are kept informed of any amendments in the Egyptian standard through the publication of administrative orders in the official gazette.Proposed date of adoption:10 March 2020Proposed date of entry into force: 10 April 2020

This addendum concerns the notification of the Ministerial Decree No. 173/2020 that gives the producers and importers a six-month transitional period to abide by the Egyptian Standard ES 1007-4 for; hard cheese- part: 4 Romi (Romy) cheese .It should be noted that an earlier version of this draft Egyptian Standard was formerly notified in G/SPS/N/EGY/105 dated 10 February 2020.Worth mentioning is that this standard has been formulated according to National studies.Producers and importers are kept informed of any amendments in the Egyptian standard through the publication of administrative orders in the official gazette.Proposed date of adoption:10 March 2020Proposed date of entry into force: 10 April 2020

This addendum concerns the notification of the Ministerial Decree No. 172/2020 gives the producers and importers a six-month transitional period to abide by the Egyptian standard ES 8338 for Mozzarella cheese and Cancels Egyptian Standard ES 1008-14 for soft cheese - part: 14 for Mozzarella cheese.It should be noted that an earlier version of the draft ES Standard 1008-14 was formerly notified in G/SPS/N/EGY/104/dated 10 February 2020.Worth mentioning that this standard is technically identical with CXS 262-2006 Adopted in 2006.Amended in 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019 Codex Standard for Mozzarella Cheese.Producers and importers are kept informed of any amendments in the Egyptian standard through the publication of administrative orders in the official gazette.Proposed date of adoption: 10 March 2020Proposed date of entry into force:10 April 2020

This addendum concerns the notification of the Ministerial Decree No. 173/2020 that gives the producers and importers a six-month transitional period to abide by the Egyptian Standard ES 1007-2 for hard cheese - part: 2 cheddar cheese.It should be noted that an earlier version of this draft Standard was formerly notified in G/SPS/N/EGY/99 dated10 February 2020.Worth mentioning is that this standard is technically identical with CODEX STAN C-1/1966 Adopted In 1996. Revised in 2007. Amended in 2008, 2010, 2013, 2018, 2019.Producers and importers are kept informed of any amendments in the Egyptian standard through the publication of administrative orders in the official gazette.Proposed date of adoption:10 March 2020Proposed date of entry into force: 10 April 2020