Shipping from China to Egypt — 20–24 days sea freight, duty and customs
Importing into Egypt: Duty by HS line; VAT 14% standard rate — goods under USD 150 can enter duty free but VAT still applies. The importer of record position: Must be on GOEIC’s Importers Register; the general rule is 51% Egyptian ownership, with a new time-limited foreign route under Decree 271/2026. Before shipping, GOEIC registration of foreign manufacturers under Decrees 992/2015 and 43/2016 for listed product groups; Egyptian standards from EOS; NFSA governs food. Duty and tax are assessed per commodity code, so these positions are confirmed per shipment.
20–24 days sea freight from China to Egypt. What Egypt requires on arrival: who may import, what duty and tax apply, and which certification and product rules must be in place.
What does Egypt require before the cargo can be imported?
Egypt is served from China by ocean, air and express, and the arrival-side requirements below are the part that most often changes a landed cost or holds a shipment at the port. Each position is the one we publish for this market and is confirmed per shipment against the actual commodity code and destination city.
What duty, tax and levies apply on arrival?
Duty and tax
Duty by HS line; VAT 14% standard rate — goods under USD 150 can enter duty free but VAT still applies
Who is allowed to import into this market?
Importer of record
Must be on GOEIC’s Importers Register; the general rule is 51% Egyptian ownership, with a new time-limited foreign route under Decree 271/2026
What certification or product rules must be in place before shipping?
Certification
GOEIC registration of foreign manufacturers under Decrees 992/2015 and 43/2016 for listed product groups; Egyptian standards from EOS; NFSA governs food
Pre-shipment certification
SONCAP for Nigeria and PVoC for Kenya and Tanzania must be arranged before loading
How is the entry cleared on arrival?
Pre-arrival registration
An ACID number from NAFEZA/CargoX is mandatory before departure — since 1 January 2026 for air as well as sea — and is valid six months
How long does shipping from China to Egypt take?
Typical door-to-door transit on this lane, by mode. These are working ranges rather than carrier-published schedules, so the exact window is confirmed on booking.
Mode
Typical transit
What it covers
Ocean freight FCL
20–24 days
Port to port into Ain Sokhna on the direct CULines service from Ningbo, Nansha and Shekou; 34–42 days into Alexandria and Port Said on current forwarder tables, and ONE still routes China–Alexandria via the Cape at 58–68 days
Ocean freight LCL
32–38 days
Port to port on weekly consolidations; door-to-door quoted with the booking
Air freight
3–7 days
Airport to airport to Cairo on forwarder-published transit, 3–5 days on the faster routings
Express courier
Confirmed per shipment
Carrier sites publish no readable door-to-door days; DHL requires the ACID number at booking from 1 April 2026
Which gateway does cargo arrive through in Africa?
The gateway is the same for every country in Africa; what changes between countries is the duty, importer and certification position above.
Destination ports
Ain Sokhna (direct calls), Alexandria Old and El Dekheila, Port Said East and West, Damietta, Abu Kir
Gateway ports
Durban, Cape Town, Mombasa, Lagos (Apapa and Tin Can), Tema, Port Louis
Gateway airports
JNB, NBO, LOS, CPT
How do you turn this into a landed cost?
Duty is assessed per commodity code, so the positions above tell you what to prepare rather than what you will pay. Screen the official duty range for the HS chapter your product falls in with the HS chapter duty lookup, then put the rate for your actual code through the landed cost calculator to see duty, import tax and levies on the CIF value. Transit times, loading ports and the operating detail for this lane are on the China to Egypt route page.
Positions reviewed 2026-09-15 by Helen Peng. Duty, importer-of-record and certification answers are confirmed per shipment: a change of commodity code, origin documentation or destination city can change the position.
Where is the rest of this lane documented?
This page covers arrival requirements only. Transit times, loading ports, container options, consolidation frequency, the stage-by-stage breakdown and the remaining questions are on the route page, so they are not repeated here.
We have not yet photographed this lane's destination operations. Rather than borrow a stock or generated picture, the slots below are left empty and labelled. They are filled only with our own photographs from this lane.
Photo to be addedArrival and handling of our cargo in EgyptOur own photograph from this lane, once recordedPhoto to be addedFinal delivery in EgyptOur own photograph from this lane, once recorded
Need the duty confirmed for your product?
Send the commodity, its material, its use and the destination city, and we will confirm the position.
