Saturday 16/Aug/2025 – 12:03 PM
The General Division of Medicines of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce held an expanded meeting, last Tuesday, at the Federation’s headquarters, in the presence of representatives of governmental and supervisory bodies, and a number of national pharmaceutical companies and factories, to discuss the most important challenges facing the human and veterinary drug export sector and nutritional supplements, and to discuss ways to enhance the competitiveness of Egyptian products in foreign markets, especially the African market.
Medicines Division: Export restrictions weaken the competitiveness of the Egyptian product
Representatives of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Egyptian Drug Authority, the National Food Safety Authority, the General Authority for Export and Import Control, the General Authority for Veterinary Services, and the Egyptian Customs Authority, participated in the meeting. While the export council, the pharmaceutical industry room, and the animal production sector at the Ministry of Agriculture (head of export approvals) were invited, they did not attend.
During the meeting, Dr. Ali Auf, head of the General Division of Medicines, reviewed the most prominent challenges facing Egyptian exports in this sector, on top of which is:
The pre -offer of veterinary drugs to the Public Authority for Veterinary Services before exporting, which leads to delay and increased shipping costs.
The continued imposition of medical stamp fees on exports despite a legal exemption, which represents an additional financial burden.
The limited registration of veterinary drugs is not registered locally despite the high demand in the African markets.
The need to allow the total or partial shipping to the orders to contribute to accelerating export operations and providing hard currency.
The attendees also praised the positive role of each of the export approvals management to quickly issue approvals during a working day, the National Food Safety Authority for facilitating the procedures for exporting nutritional supplements, and the General Authority for Export and Import Control to address the problems of export contract documentation.
The meeting ended with a number of recommendations and proposals, most notably:
1. The formation of a supreme committee to export the drug headed by the Council of Ministers that includes representatives of all concerned parties, and holds a monthly to follow up on challenges and develop executive solutions.
2. Adoption of the provision of a “initial invoice” to conduct security inquiries in parallel with manufacturing, provided that the approval is valid for 6 months to a year.
3. Establishing a governance mechanism for pricing export products in dollars, ensuring the justice and profitability of Egyptian companies compared to the prices of ideas in the targeted markets.
4. Provide incentives to the highest export companies such as reducing or exempting medical stamp fees.
5. Facilitating the issuance of contracting permits with foreign companies for the purpose of manufacturing for export, while allowing the use of raw materials imported for localities registered locally for the same resource according to clear control controls.
Dr. Ali Auf, head of the General Division of Medicines, stressed that the continuous coordination between all parties and the implementation of the recommendations presented is a basic step to enhance Egyptian drug exports and open broader horizons in regional and international markets, especially the African continent, which is one of the most promising markets for this vital sector.
