Egypt Used Machinery Import Rules for UK and European Buyers

Can used machinery be imported into Egypt?

Start by establishing the legal route for the machine you intend to buy. As of October 2026, Article 7 of Decree 770 says imported goods are to be new. Used goods may enter in the cases set out in Annex 2 or otherwise approved under the decree. That is a conditional route, not permission to buy any used machine and resolve eligibility after shipment.

Decree 501/2026 changed Annex 2’s scrap item only; rows 1–3 remained unchanged in October 2026. Keep the enquiry about the actual machine and its intended use. Do not substitute a general comment about changes to used-goods rules for a written answer identifying the applicable case.

Give the broker the make, model, production year, serial number, intended work and road design. Include the proposed tariff heading and photographs that help identify the unit. Ask the seller for the available machine documents before you request an eligibility answer, and flag anything missing rather than supplying an assumed description.

I would keep the broker’s answer beside the listing and machine photographs while comparing purchases. If you move to a different model, send a new enquiry. A written answer about one proposed purchase should stay attached to that purchase, with the questions still open clearly marked for the person answering them.

Verify the seller and ownership before the Egyptian compliance and shipping work begins. Use our UK-versus-Europe guide to compare specification, documentation and seller practice before choosing the machine. Keep seller checks and destination eligibility as separate questions in that decision.

Does Egypt have an age limit for used excavators and plant?

Do not assign an age rule until the machine’s Annex 2 row is established. For the October 2026 position, row 1 covers production lines, machines, apparatuses, equipment and spare parts without a general age limit. Row 3 lists machines and equipment with no condition shown. Row 2 applies production-age conditions to special-use vehicles and some goods vehicles.

Which row applies to an excavator, loader, telehandler, crane or tractor remains unsettled for the buyer’s unit. Ask your broker or GOEIC to confirm whether it is a machine, a special-use vehicle or another listed case. Their answer should identify the make, model, year and proposed ten-digit line before any age condition is applied.

Send the year evidence and road-design details with the initial description. If the seller describes the unit differently from the broker, ask both parties to resolve the description before purchase. Do not choose the wording that appears more convenient or carry an age answer across from a different type of equipment.

Keep the distinction between the row’s wording and the unit’s classification visible in your purchase notes. Ask for the reasoning behind the selected row, along with any condition attached to it. I would want that written explanation before judging an older machine against a newer alternative.

Who can import used machinery into Egypt?

Settle the buyer’s route before asking the seller to prepare final documents. As of October 2026, Decree 770 Article 15 says production and service companies may be permitted to import production inputs in their own name. It requires evidence of activity and an Annex 5 declaration. Whether a contractor’s used plant qualifies through that route is not established.

The buyer’s exact current importer-registration route also remains unsettled. GOEIC or your broker must confirm registration or an own-use exception in writing before commitment. Describe the buying entity, its activity and the machine’s intended work together, so the answer addresses the buyer as well as the unit.

Ask the broker which company records and activity evidence it needs to assess the proposed route. Keep the applicant’s details consistent with the proposed invoice and machine description. If the buyer changes during negotiations, refer the revised arrangement back to the broker before asking the exporter to finalise anything.

Name the person who will give the importer-side instructions and the person who will gather them from the seller. I would use a short written responsibility list, shared with the parties handling the purchase. Leave unresolved registration questions with GOEIC or the broker; avoid turning a seller’s experience into an eligibility decision.

What duty and VAT apply to a used excavator in Egypt?

Start with the actual ten-digit tariff line. As of October 2026, Nafeza, the Egyptian Customs Authority single window, shows 5% general duty and 14% value-added tax (VAT) for 8429520000. This is a representative excavator line. It must not be applied to another machine merely because the description looks similar.

Nafeza displays full industrial-duty relief for qualifying UK or EU origin on the machinery lines cited here. That treatment depends on origin proof and the machine’s eligibility for preference. Ask your broker to confirm the actual ten-digit line, general rate and accepted origin proof before relying on a preferential treatment.

Give the broker the seller’s machine description, origin evidence and proposed invoice together. Ask the tariff answer to identify the precise unit and any items travelling with it. Keep an unresolved origin claim separate from an established general-rate answer while you compare the purchase with other options.

I would ask for each answer in a form that can be checked against the proposed declaration. Write down which assumption changes if the model, description or supporting origin document changes. Do not build the buying decision around a preference that the broker has not accepted for this machine.

Ask the broker how the declared details and supporting documents should be presented before you settle the seller’s final paperwork. Retain the written tariff and origin instructions together. That gives the exporter one agreed description to work from instead of several informal descriptions gathered during the search.

Which authorities can hold the machine before release?

Get the release steps written down before arranging movement. For October 2026, Nafeza’s control note for 8429 and 8430 requires presentation to the General Authority for Roads and Bridges before release. The practical document, inspection and release steps are not specified on the lookup. Your broker and that authority must confirm what is required for the unit.

It remains unsettled whether the selected used excavator, tractor or other plant requires a GOEIC Certificate of Inspection or producer/factory registration. Ask GOEIC, the authority responsible for the import-control answer, or your broker for the exact line and machine. Do not treat a seller’s general inspection report as the authority’s instruction.

A condition inspection is separate from Egyptian border and GOEIC controls. Use it to assess the purchase, then give the relevant machine evidence to the parties deciding the destination requirements. Ask who needs access to the unit, what evidence they need and when those requirements should reach the seller.

Keep the Roads and Bridges answer distinct from the GOEIC answer in the purchase file. Ask each party to identify its own next step and any document it expects from the exporter. Refer conflicting instructions back to the broker before asking the seller to act on either version.

What are ACID, Nafeza and CargoX?

Agree the pre-shipment handover early. As of October 2026, the importer or delegate requests the ACID on Nafeza after initial invoice data exists. The foreign exporter registers once on CargoX and completes company verification for Egypt’s ACI document process. Ask the broker and exporter to align their steps before papers are finalised; our Egypt ACI and ACID guide explains the Nafeza, CargoX and digital-document sequence.

What documents, cleaning and shipping checks should the seller prepare?

Have the broker specify the required documents before the seller raises them. As of October 2026, Nafeza requires ACI invoices to be generated electronically as PDFs; scans of printed invoices are not permissible. Ask the seller to prepare the invoice from the agreed machine and buyer details, then check it against the broker’s instructions.

LCCI, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says a UK certificate of origin must carry the ACID. The certificate-of-origin and chamber-certification route for Annex 2 used goods remains unsettled. The official/legal texts and two LCCI pages do not give one consistent answer. Your broker, LCCI or the Egyptian-British Chamber must confirm the required document and certifier before issue.

Decree 770 Article 102 says equipment and machines under quality control must carry a country-of-origin label. The label may be in Arabic, English or French and must be on the body or package. Keep the qualification about quality control in the enquiry; ask the broker how the requirement applies to your unit.

The machine-specific Egyptian position on soil, cleaning, a phytosanitary certificate and wood packaging is not established. Ask CAPQ for written requirements covering the exact used machine and packing. Send photographs and a description of the proposed packaging, and pass the response to the seller before agreeing cleaning or packing work.

Sailings run; the forwarder must confirm the current schedule and obtain written acceptance for the actual machine and transport method before booking. Send measured dimensions, weight and the travelling configuration with the enquiry. Keep the answer tied to the selected unit, and ask for a new acceptance if the shipment changes.

For a UK purchase, HMRC Notice 703 allows a VAT-registered seller to zero-rate an export when valid export evidence is held within three months of the time of supply. Agree the transaction’s VAT treatment, written evidence requirements and any deposit terms with the seller or its tax adviser before payment.

Keep the seller’s export-evidence handover beside the document and collection instructions. Ask who will provide each record and who will send it to the seller. I would resolve that responsibility while the purchase is being organised, with the seller able to review the proposed terms.

Pre-purchase checklist

Before committing to the machine, gather these written answers and give the seller the instructions relevant to its work:

— Send the make, model, year, serial, intended use, road design and proposed heading; obtain the Annex 2 row and any age condition.

— Establish the buyer’s registration or production/service-company route with GOEIC or the broker.

— Obtain the actual ten-digit line, general duty, VAT treatment and any accepted origin preference.

— Ask the broker and Roads and Bridges authority for the presentation and release steps.

— Align the importer’s ACID request with the exporter’s CargoX preparation and initial invoice data.

— Prepare an electronic PDF invoice and obtain the origin-document instructions before raising or certifying papers.

— Ask GOEIC and CAPQ for the applicable machine, label, inspection, cleaning and packing requirements.

— Obtain written unit and transport-method acceptance, then put the UK seller’s export-evidence terms in writing.

Working with a buying agent who already does this

Euro Plant Finder sources used construction and agricultural machinery in the UK and Europe. We check the seller, arrange inspection and coordinate the export-side documents and machine evidence with the seller and buyer’s advisers.

Your own Egyptian broker handles the customs declaration and clearance. The buyer and broker obtain the Annex 2, tariff, Nafeza and authority answers. We coordinate the export handover with them so their written instructions reach the seller before the machine moves.

Sources and last check

This guide was last checked on 26 October 2026 against the official sources below. It is general guidance, not a quotation or legal advice: rates and rules change, so confirm anything that affects your machine with your clearing agent or the authority named.

WIPO Lex Decree 770 "as amended up to Ministerial Decree No. 281 of 2021" — https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/22483 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

Arabic PDF — https://wipolex-res.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/ar/eg/eg091ar_1.pdf — checked 23 Oct 2026.

English 2006 text — https://wipolex-res.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/eg/eg010en_1.pdf — checked 23 Oct 2026.

GOEIC: Decree 501 of 2026 (Gazette issue 225, 12 Oct 2026) — https://www.goeic.gov.eg/upload/online/2026/10/documents/files/ar/2022.pdf — checked 23 Oct 2026.

decrees list — https://www.goeic.gov.eg/en/laws-and-decisions/list/898 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

"Industrial imports" — https://www.goeic.gov.eg/en/services-and-activities/industrial-and-non-industrial-imports/industrial-imports — checked 23 Oct 2026.

Decree 540 of 2014 — https://www.goeic.gov.eg/upload/online/2024/03/documents/files/ar/1395.pdf — checked 23 Oct 2026.

Nafeza tariff lookup (Egyptian Customs Authority single window) — https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/en/tarrif · https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/web/en/api/tarrif/index?type=item · https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/web/en/api/tarrif/details?code=8429520000 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

Nafeza — https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/en/pages/15 · /en/pages/16 · /en/pages/27 · /en/pages/32 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

LCCI FAQ — https://www.londonchamber.co.uk/international-trade/trade-documentation/united-kingdom-certificates-of-origin/uk-certificates-of-origin-faqs/ — checked 23 Oct 2026.

LCCI price list July 2026 — https://www.londonchamber.co.uk/LCCI_Media/LCCI/Media/Trade-Documentation/Trade-Documents-July-2026.pdf — checked 23 Oct 2026.

Australian Government MICoR, Egypt (grain and seed only) — https://micor.agriculture.gov.au/plants/egypt_eg/other — checked 23 Oct 2026.

Grimaldi — https://www.grimaldi.napoli.it/ · https://www.grimaldi-lines.com/en/timetables-and-departures-for-public-service-lines/ — checked 23 Oct 2026.

gov.uk Notice 703 — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-goods-exported-from-the-uk-notice-703 — checked 23 Oct 2026.