LEGISLATION WATCH- EBA lobbies for changes to draft customs law: The Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA) will submit recommendations to the House Planning and Budget Committee on the draft customs law, Youm7 reported. An EBA delegation has attended two of the House’s sessions to express its views on the law, which is expected to speed up customs clearance, create a “whitelist” of trusted importers, and broaden the discretion of the Customs Authority.

What does the EBA want? The EBA is asking that customs are reviewed within one year of the departure of goods, instead of five as currently written in the draft law, Khaled Hamza, the head of the EBA Import and Customs Committee, said. This would reduce the risk of disputes occurring due to long-term price changes. The association will also ask that the customs exemption period be extended to three years from two-and-a-half to grant manufacturers enough time to make and export their products. The EBA is also demanding that the monthly customs surcharge is reduced to 1% from 1.5% currently.