The General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) of Egypt has signed a cooperation protocol with the Export Council for Printing, Packaging, Paper, Literary, and Artistic Works in the field of chemical analysis in GOEIC’s laboratories and as well as exchange of information and data.
This is in partnership with the Trade Reform and Development in Egypt (TRADE) project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The protocol is aimed at supporting the printing and packaging sectors to facilitate the completion of laboratory procedures for companies affiliated with the sector. The agreement was signed by Nadim Elias, Chairman of the Export Council for Printing and Packaging, in the presence of Rachid Benjelloun, TRADE project Director, and Dr. Ashraf El Rabiey, Head of Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) Unit, besides representatives of a number of member companies of the export council.
Essam Al Najjar, Chairman of GOEIC, said that the agreement is in line with implementing the directives of Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir, to achieve better communication between the Ministry’s agencies and the business community in order to upgrade the Egyptian industry and increase exports. It is also within the framework of the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s keenness to improving the system of services provided to exporters and importers through committing to implement the latest existing rules and systems, in a way that contributes to facilitating the movement of trade between Egypt and the rest of the world.
Al Najjar clarified that the protocol provides a 25% reduction in the price of laboratory tests for all countries and a 50% reduction for exporters to African countries to open up lucrative export markets and accelerating the process of releasing production requirements. The protocol will also enable the authority to assist council members in issuing certificates of conformity, registering in the Saudi Saber platform, and issuing free sales certificates to enhance competitiveness of Egyptian products in foreign markets.
GOEIC is registered with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as an acceptable conformity assessment body that grants certificates of conformity (CoC) and certificates of consignment (SCoC) for textiles, shoes and accessories, leather goods, biodegradable plastic products, paper and cardboard, detergents, kitchen tools and equipment, and electric batteries.
On his part, Export Council Chairman Nadim Elias thanked and appreciated GOEIC for its role in facilitating foreign trade and developing exports. He pointed out that the reduced prices that the authority will provide under the protocol will have an important role in revitalizing facilitating procedures for exporting the sector’s products abroad.
TRADE project’s Rachid Benjelloun stressed on the importance of the joint protocol in increasing Egyptian exports by providing export opportunities to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), increasing competitiveness of their products to boost exports, and guiding them successfully penetrate global markets. The TRADE project in partnership with GOEIC also held a training programme for supporting the export sector in Egypt by working to improve the quality and image of Egyptian products and enabling access to international markets. The programme also shed light on the pivotal role played by GOEIC in helping Egyptian companies achieve 100 billion dollars in exports. A review of the laws, decisions, and technical procedures regulating the examination and testing of paper and cardboard products, the technical specifications and procedures used to evaluate packaging, as well as identifying the system of industrial and chemical laboratories owned by GOEIC and its role in examining the production requirements and inputs received for the industry to ensure conformity with Egyptian and international specifications were also dealt with.
Al Najjar accompanied representatives of nine companies on a tour inside the labs infrastructure in its building at Dekheila Port in Alexandria to get them acquainted with the latest inspection, calibration, and approved test devices.
