Exporting food to Egypt? Meet Egypt's National Food Safety Authority (NFSA)

Are you interested in exporting food to Egypt, the largest consumer market in the Middle East and  North Africa? This market offers great opportunities, but it is not easy to navigate the procedures and formalities. This cannot be done without a local partner or branch office with staff who know their way around Egypt’s regulatory authorities. The newest agency governing food production and trade is the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA).

Earlier this year, the Agriculture team of the Netherlands embassy had an introductory meeting with the Chairman of NFSA, Dr Hussein Mansour and acting Executive Director Dr Ehab Mourad. They discussed potential opportunities for collaboration between both countries and the impact of NFSA’s new regulations on Dutch companies.

Left to right, Egyptian-Dutch food trader Amir Adam (Gafman), Melle Leenstra (LAN Cairo), Dr Hussein Mansour (NFSA), Dr Ehab Mourat (NFSA) and Omar Abdellatif (LAN Cairo)
Left to right, Egyptian-Dutch food trader Amir Adam (Gafman), Melle Leenstra (LAN Cairo), Dr. Hussein Mansour (NFSA), Dr Ehab Mourat (NFSA) and Omar Abdellatif (LAN Cairo)

In 2017, The Egyptian Parliament established the new National Food Safety Authority (NFSA) by the law number 1/2017. The agency is responsible for food safety regulation for local production, import and export through conducting inspection, licensing and certification. The National Food Safety Authority is the national authority responsible for granting the entry of all imports of food and food products into Egypt. It will base its trade facilitation on a risk analysis approach.

On August 11, 2020, Egypt’s National Food Safety Authority (NFSA) released Decision No. 6/2020 – Rules Regulating Food Import Licensing, for publication in Egypt’s official gazette (Al-Wakaye AlMesreya). This decision specifies the rules related to the licensing of Egyptian food importers and food establishments importing food and food products. It will allow the importation of food and food products based on the importer receiving from the NFSA a food importer license. The NFSA will establish a white list of qualified food importers among those licensed to import. These companies will benefit from facilitated clearance protocols for imported food consignments, resulting in the reduction of the customs hold period, and the application of reduced sampling frequencies to these consignments. This license is valid for up to three years and is renewable.

Based on article 4, all food importers companies will need to register with NFSA to be eligible to get import permit.

“NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO SEEK A FOOD IMPORTER LICENSE”

The National Food Safety Authority will establish a register for licensed food importers. Food Importer licenses are to be sought from the NFSA through a written or electronic application, established for this purpose. The application shall include the following information and documents:

  1. The importer’s name, representative, or trade agent.
  2. The establishment’s name, trademark, and brand name.
  3. Tax card.
  4. The commercial register.
  5. The legal type of the company, incorporation, shareholder agreements and documents, owners’ /shareholders’ names, and name(s) of managing director(s).
  6. The company activity including the food products to be imported according to the commercial register.
  7. The company shall have an office in the Arab Republic of Egypt.
  8. The contact data shall include the company address and email.
  9. The customs code as assigned by the Ministry of Finance.
  10. A statement disclosing former operations as a food importer, by the company and/or its managing and operating officer, under the same name or a different business name, with or without registration with the NFSA or with another Egyptian Authority, within the last year from the date marked on the application form.
  11. A certified copy of the registration in the importers’ register of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry according to the Law No. 121/1982 - Importers Registration Law and its modifications.

The food importer license will be valid for three years and to be renewed within, at least two months, prior to its expiration. Failure to renew the license application within these set timelines will lead to the food importer being considered as a new applicant”

"Tools to access the Egyptian market"

One of the main requirements to get import permits for Dutch companies is to have an Egyptian partner. All food companies need to inform NFSA of all factories and register their food products before 2021, The Egyptian Company can register through sending an e-mail to: food.factory@nfsa.gov.eg and filling the following online form

To know more about the regulations needed to access the Egyptian market check out the EU’s Access to Markets Portal through this link.

The Agriculture team of the Embassy stands ready to help any Dutch company interested to do business with Egypt, for more information, please contact: KAI-LNV@minbuza.nl