Arab Brazilian Chamber, Egypt Customs sign action plan

The Egyptian Customs Authority signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to carry out an action plan with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) towards establishing an electronic connectivity process aimed at digitally exchanging documents and data related to foreign trade shipments with Brazilian customs through the Easy Trade system, developed by the ABCC. The signing occurred this Sunday in Cairo (19) with heads of both institutions and authorities.

The head of the Egyptian Customs Authority, Al-Shahat Ghaturi, stated the plan aims to support and facilitate trade between Egypt and Brazil, increase commercial exchange, achieve economic development targets, and seize more significant benefits from the free trade agreement signed between Egypt and Mercosur in 2010, which entered into force in September 2017.

Ghaturi explained the entity seeks to take advantage of the ABCC’s expertise in electronic connectivity operations with the Brazilian customs to exchange documents and data and guarantee their security. According to him, the signed MoU includes an action plan and a solid roadmap for assessing the system and carrying out training by ABCC technical staff to reach a final agreement and start the implementation.

Egypt imports several products from Brazil, including animal protein, maize, soybeans, and sugar. The Arab country also exports some products to the Brazilian market, such as chemicals, agricultural inputs, fertilizers, and processed foods.

Ghaturi thanked the initiative suggested by the ABCC to implement electronic connectivity, which helps in clean trade, preserving public assets and the rights of both countries, and speeding the clearance of goods, in line with the growth of the Egypt-Brazil trade.

The ABCC already has an agreement with Jordan in force, and exports from Brazil to the Jordanian market can now be made through the digital process. The Easy Trade system uses blockchain technology and is part of a larger foreign trade platform of the ABCC, Ellos, which aims to move all stages of exports to digital, from trade promotion to financing.

Easy Trade System

Ambassador Osmar Chohfi, president of the ABCC, said Egypt is one of Brazil’s most important trade partners in Africa and the Arab world since the volume of bilateral trade last year came close to the figure of USD 2.5 billion, confirming the importance of facilitating trade movement to double that number.

He highlighted the ABCC seeks to implement electronic connectivity for the exchange of data and information between Brazil and all the Arab countries, recalling the signing of the MoU makes Egypt the second Arab country to take concrete measures towards implementing the system, following the agreement signed with Jordan, which has already entered into force.

Chohfi highlighted the MoU as a milestone for greater cooperation between the ABCC and Egyptian Customs, meeting the interests of both countries, and explaining the system was designed based on an artificial intelligence system to verify the authenticity of documents issued in Brazil, thus ruling out the need for paperwork in the future.

The ABCC president said one of the system’s advantages is the reduction of fraud, import costs, and time in customs clearance of shipments since there is no need to wait for paper documents to arrive.

Source: Anba

To read the full original article, please go to: https://anba.com.br/en/arab-brazilian-chamber-egypt-customs-sign-action-plan/

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