EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd, Mariam Rabie, Mohamed Selim and Abdelaziz Mohamed, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
duty rates, whichever results in a lower duty. However, this preferential treatment is contingent upon the local manufacturing percentage reaching 60%, a threshold that can be lowered to 40% by virtue of a decision from the Minister of Trade and Industry. The local manufacturing percentage shall be calcu - lated based on the contribution of the assembly line, as determined by a decision from the Minister of Trade and Industry for each assembly industry individually. This percentage shall be supplemented by the ratio of locally manufactured components to the total com - plete components constituting the final product, as specified by the General Authority for Industrial Devel - opment, in accordance with the project establishment licence issued. Moreover, the Minister of Finance, upon the request of the Minister of Trade and Industry, may grant compa - nies involved in assembling complex industrial prod - ucts an advance reduction in customs duties of up to 40%, even prior to the fulfilment of the required local component levels. This preferential treatment is con - ditional on achieving the stipulated local component within a specified timeframe outlined in their industrial licence. The General Authority for Industrial Development, in co-ordination with the Customs Authority, shall moni - tor these companies’ compliance through annual reporting to the Minister of Finance. In the event that a company fails to meet its targeted local component level by year-end, the preferential treatment shall be revoked. Consequently, the company will be reas - sessed under the standard customs rules. It must also reimburse any resulting financial discrepancies along with statutory interest calculated at the highest applicable legal rate for the period in which the benefit was enjoyed.
subject to meeting the relevant criteria with respect to financial thresholds, has been newly introduced, replacing the post-notification regime. Under the new amendments, economic concentration is defined as any change of control or material influence as a result of a merger or acquisition or establishment of a joint venture. 6.2 Merger Control Procedure In April 2024, the Egyptian Prime Minister issued Decree No 1120 of 2024, issuing the Executive Reg - ulations of the Antitrust Law, whereby the applica - tion of the new amendments to the Antitrust Law has been introduced. The Egyptian Competition Author - ity was granted the authority to review and approve proposed mergers and acquisitions prior to entering into the transaction, provided that the said proposed transaction constitutes an “economic concentration” and meets the relevant criteria with respect to financial thresholds. The new pre-merger control system came into effect as of 1 June 2024. Further, the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) was granted authority to review and approve any pro - posed mergers and acquisitions prior to their execu - tion, provided that the persons concerned with the transaction exercise one of the activities under the FRA’s supervision, including, inter alia, securities and capital markets activities, insurance, reinsurance or insurance brokerage activities, financial leasing activi - ties, or microfinance activities. 6.3 Cartels The Antitrust Law primarily governs anti-competitive agreements and monopolistic practices. It prohibits agreements between competitors, or between a party and any of its suppliers or clients, with the purpose of restricting competition such as price fixing and other forms of anti-competitive agreements. The Antitrust Law also sets penalties for any violation under the provisions thereof, such as nullity of certain agree - ments and fines on a case-by-case basis. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position The Antitrust Law addresses the abuse of a dominant position by one entity or more within the market, such as unfair pricing, unwillingness to deal and discrimi - nation.
6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification
With respect to the amendments in late 2022 to the Antitrust Law No 3 of 2005 (the “Antitrust Law”), as amended, the pre-closing clearance for any transac - tion that constitutes an “economic concentration”,
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