Urgent legislative amendments to combat smuggling

The new head of the customs department, Mohammed salehawi Cairo – Akram Ali The new head of the customs department, Mohammed salehawi said, "the customs department is considering amendments to the recent customs law and related ministerial decrees. These include increased penalties for smuggling, a crime which has increased since the revolution in 2011." Salehawi said in a press release, "Financial Minister Momtaz el-Saied, confirmed this phenomenon and is taking legal procedure to confront it. The Financial Ministry will not reconcile with any smuggler. They will be immediately prosecuted." The customs head said, "one of the most important suggested amendments, is increasing the fine from a quarter of the customs value to the full customs value." Salehawi said that, "customs will limit using Salloum crossing for individuals and vehicles loaded with Arabic goods. Chains will be used to secure land shipped containers." On the separate issue of textile tariffs, he aims to review the tariff structure on all imported goods, to allow different production requirements to pay different rates. This would protect hand made and local products from completely industrialised products."