TIME RELEASE STUDY

COMMUNICATION FROM EGYPT

 Revision

The following communication, dated 16 September 2025, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Egypt.

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Article 7.6 – Establishment and Publication of Average Release Times

The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), Article 7.6, stipulates that "Members are encouraged to measure and publish their average release time of goods periodically and in a consistent manner, using tools such as, inter alia, the Time Release Study of the World Customs Organisation (referred to in this Agreement as the "WCO").

The Agreement also provides that 'Members are encouraged to share with the Committee their experiences in measuring average release times, including methodologies used, bottlenecks identified, and any resulting effects on efficiency".

An end-to-end Time Release Study (TRS) was conducted by Egypt to cover a broader scope, including a re-evaluation of the Port of Alexandria and new studies of El Dekhalia, Damietta ports.

The data collection for the three (3) seaports was carried out simultaneously for seven (7) days, coinciding with regular shipping traffic between 21-27 April 2024.

Furthermore, each process steps in the clearance process were examined to test the effectiveness of the processes at the border and operational efficiencies. The findings of this study were also compared to the findings of the previous TRS conducted in 2021.

Trade facilitation reform measures have led to a significant reduction in cargo release time from (16.8) days in the 2021 TRS to (8.73) days in the 2024 TRS, demonstrating the positive impact of these changes on the overall performance of the import supply chain.

The report of the study is available on the following link:

https://customs.gov.eg/Services/StudyReports

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