E-cigarettes in Egypt

Egypt: Ayman Abo El-Ela, chair of the parliamentary health committee, ran a seminar today titled “Reducing risks and ways to quit” to raise awareness about the risks of smoking and the dangers of using e-cigarettes as an alternative, press reports. He noted that Egypt ranks tenth in the world for smoking rates and called for stricter regulations against tobacco.

Egypt: The Ministry of Local Development has announced that Law No. 154/2019 on Licensing Stores and Premises will come into force on Sunday, 11th December. The law stipulates that tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cannot be sold or served in places that sell or serve food or drink without a licence from the government. Failure to comply with the law will result in a fine of between EGP20,000 ($812) and EGP50,000 ($2,029).

Egypt: The Customs Authority has issued a circular making clear that e-cigarette devices that don’t contain liquid are subject only to 14% value added tax, as laid down by Law No. 13/2020; while e-liquid, with or without nicotine, is subject to tax of EGP2 ($0.11) per ml plus 10% of the price. This confirms ECigIntelligence’s analysis.

Egypt: A circular issued by the Customs Authority makes clear that the General Organisation for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) is responsible for testing e-liquids in the authority’s laboratories – located in Egyptian ports – to ensure they conform to Egyptian standards.