Memorandum of Understanding for pre-shipment inspection of Chinese industrial products shipping to Egypt

With a view to promote the trade between China and Egypt, The General Administration of quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) and The Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt (Here in after referred to as the parties) signed a memorandum of understanding on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and cooperation:

1. General Principles:
The Parties, as the government bodies in charge of inspection of import and export products agree to establish a long-term friendly relationship on supervision of import and export products under the conditions of mutual respect to the relevant laws and regulations of each country, relevant international laws and generally-accepted rules:

The Parties also agree to through close cooperation seek effective ways to promote the quality improvement and price reasonability of the Chinese Product Shipping to Egypt, facilitate the trade between both countries and maintain the interests of both countries.
2. Cooperation of Scope
The parties agree to conduct governmental-level cooperation on per-shipment inspection of Chinese industrial products shipping to Egypt and exchange information in the following aspects:
A) To exchange all laws, regulations, procedures and standards on inspection and supervision of products of each country.
B) To Cooperate and exchange experiences in the area of products inspection technology and training.

3. The Pre-shipment Inspection of Chinese Industrial Products Shipping to Egypt
The Parties agree that the Local China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (herein after referred to as the local CIQ) under AQSIQ will be the organization to conduct pre-shipment inspection of Chinese Industrial Products shipping to Egypt.

The Local CIQ will issue inspection certificate that will be a document which must be submitted to the Egyptian authorities to release imported Chinese industrial products.

AQSIQ shall be obliged to submit a model of the authorized signatures and stamps to GOEIC to verify the certificates accompanied with the consignments exported from China to Egypt annually.

In case of not submitting such certificate shall be according to the tests and inspection against the relevant standard issued or certified by the Egyptian Organization for Standards and quality.

The Chairman of the General organization for Export and Import Control of The Arab Republic of Egypt will set rules and Programs for random inspection of the industrial goods accompanied with pre-shipment inspection certificate.

4. The Items and Standard of Inspection
The pre-shipment inspection of Chinese industrial products shipping to Egypt includes items concerning:
• Quality,
• Safety,
• Health,
• Environmental Protection,
• Value assessment based on factory gate price (or ex-work price),
• Surveillance on Loading, etc.
The Egyptian Side can put forward concrete requirements.

The Standard for products inspection will be decided according to the Egyptian laws and the trade contract, and the Standard for inspection method will be decided according to relevant international standards taking into consideration the Egyptian standards or according to what agreed upon by the parties.

5. Procedures for Inspection Declaration and Inspection
After the exporting contract is signed, the exporter shall submit application for inspection to the local CIQ with relevant document.

The local CIQ will accept the application and conduct inspection in a timely manner according to the law.

After the completion of inspection, the local CIQ will issue inspection certificate to as an evidence for release.

The Exporter of products who applying for pre-shipment inspection shall pay the required inspection and certification service to local CIQ at a rate stipulated by the Chinese Government.

6. Import Verification Procedures
When the imported products arrive to Egypt, GOEIC shall verify certificate by the local CIQ.
The Certificate issued by the local CIQ shall act as a guide to the customs of the Arab Republic of Egypt for tariff classification on Chinese products and this certificate will be one of the documents submitted to GOEIC.

If necessary, GOEIC can conduct inspection on the consignment and notify the result to the AQSIQ when the Consignments arrive in Egypt.
Upon conformance, the consignments shall be released.

In the case of non-conformance the necessary action will be taken according to the Egyptian laws and regulations and the Department for Supervision on Inspection of AQSIQ will be.

7. Coordination and Surveillance
Should any certificate be suspected of forgery/ adulteration by the exporters/ Persons unknown, GOEIC shall notify AQSIQ in a timely manner and the problem shall be resolved through consultations in line with the said memorandum of understanding.
Exporters/
Agents/
Persons involved in forgery/

Adulteration shall be punished respectively in accordance with the laws and regulations of People's Republic of China or the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Establishing Electronic system of exchange all data related to consignments is a must.

8. Communication
The Parties agree that the General Organization for Export and Import Control of the Arab Republic of Egypt and The Department for Supervision on Inspection of the General Administration of
• Quality,
• Supervision,
• Inspection and
• Quarantine of The People's Republic of China shall be the implementing bodies of this memorandum.

The parties agree to set up a contact point for daily contact and implementing of this memorandum.
The contact point should be formed by GOEIC and AQSIQ.

9. Support Technical
To guarantee the smooth proceed of the pre-shipment inspection and to enlarge the areas of cooperation, the parties should support each other in the field of technical legislation, standards and inspection.

The measures of support should include but not limited to information exchange, training and lab construction.
The Chinese side intended to give the Egyptian side more support.

10. Enforcement
This agreement should enter into force after the signature, taking into consideration that the first two months after the signing date shall be considered as a transitional period for both sides.
This memorandum should remain in force for five years after the signing date and it should be extended for five more years automatically if not otherwise notified by any party six months before its maturation.

11. Authenticity
The Chinese-Arabic and English versions of this memorandum are equally authentic.
However if there is a contradiction the English version shall be binding.

12. Supplementary Provisions
In case of amendment or revision of this memorandum, it should be done by bilateral negotiation.
The Dispute of the operation and understanding of this memorandum should be solved bilaterally.

Signed on February 24th, 2009, in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China. For more information, please refer to www.ecsei.com.