Egyptian exports heading to South America will as of today be charged lower customs rates under a trade agreement signed in 2010, according to a ministry statement. Customs paid on some 6.9k goods heading to countries in the Mercosur trading bloc will be reduced by 10-12.5% in a move that will benefit exporters and make Egyptian products more competitive in Latin America.

This is an annual event: Under the agreement (pdf), both sides are working to gradually eliminate customs imposed on 90% of the goods by 2026. Customs are being phased out over varying timelines, with some goods seeing 12.5% reductions each year and becoming exempt by 2023 and others being cut by 10% a year, reaching 0% by 2026. Duties on other goods were made exempt when the agreement came into force in 2017 while for others the charges were fully phased out by 2020.

The latest reductions mean that customs have been slashed by 50-62.5% since the agreement came into force in 2017.

Annual trade between Egypt and Mercosur countries has more than doubled since the agreement came into effect in 201, notching USD 396 mn last year compared to USD 184 mn three years earlier.