The ministry's announcement came as part of a presentation of the facilities that will be provided to participants in the conference, which will be held from 6 to 18 November.

The Egyptian Tax Authority and Customs Authority have formed a committee to facilitate customs release procedures for consignments. A central operations room was set up at Cairo International Airport to instantly remove any obstacles to customs release, the ministry said.

A bonded area has also been created at Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport to complete cargo customs clearance procedures. Import consignments will be examined by representatives of concerned authorities to speed up the decision-making process and ensure streamlining of customs release procedures.

The ministry stated that during COP27, letters of undertaking delivered by companies will be accepted as a substitute for letters of bank guarantee or cash guarantee. Import release will be on a temporary release basis.

Also, all import shipments connected to COP27 will be exempted from Advance Cargo Information (ACI) Registration at all customs ports, the ministry stated.

“Passengers must declare to authorities any amounts of foreign currency or tradable financial or commercial bonds they have which exceed the limits allowed to those who enter Egypt. Items for personal use are, however, exempted,” the statement read.

Non-Egyptian passengers departing Egypt will be allowed to travel with any extra amounts as long as these amounts were declared to customs at the time of arrival. Passengers will be forbidden to bring any prohibited items.

The ministry also announced that it is facilitating refunding of the VAT to foreign departing passengers in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), and Banque Misr (BM).

Finance Minister Mohamed Maait also announced on Tuesday the launch of the COP27 Simplified Customs Procedures Manual.

Maait stated that the manual was available in both Arabic and English and that it included information on import customs under the temporary release system. Furthermore, it included information on procedures for temporary cargo release for exhibitions and re-exports as well as on VAT refunds for foreign departing passengers.

The manual can be found on the official COP27 website, on the Ministry of Finance website, and on other related authorities’ websites.