New UCR no. Requirements for Export Shipments from Egypt
The Egyptian Customs Authority has announced a new regulatory requirement for all export shipments originating from Egypt.
This regulation will take effect for all the new booking requests after 1 April 2026.
Scope
All the export shipments originating from Egypt and are exported via an Egyptian port (meaning transshipments are not affected from this regulation).
What is changing?
Customers will be required to provide their selected carrier with a valid UCR (Unique Consignment Reference) number issued through the Egyptian customs single-window platform Nafeza.
In addition, customers must provide their Exporter Tax ID (9-digit business identification number in Egypt).
What does this mean for your bookings?
As your carrier, Ocean Network Express is required to collect and validate both the UCR number and the Exporter Tax ID through the Nafeza portal.
Based on the validation result, Nafeza will confirm:
- Whether a booking is permitted
(booking confirmation will be issued only if the UCR is approved; otherwise, the
booking may be declined), and
- Whether loading is permitted
(after a booking is confirmed, Nafeza will advise if the cargo may be loaded for
the specific booking).
Please note that, under the new regulation, some bookings may not be accepted and some confirmed bookings may later be prevented from loading, in accordance with instructions from Egyptian Customs.
Mandatory information from 1 April 2026
From 1 April 2026, providing the following details will be mandatory in all new booking requests for exports from Egypt:
Valid UCR number
Valid Exporter Tax ID
Bookings submitted without this information cannot be accepted.
E-commerce and EDI bookings
Our e-commerce platform is currently being enhanced to support the new mandatory fields.
If you submit bookings via EDI platforms such as INTTRA or CargoWise, please include the UCR number and Exporter Tax ID in the remarks section for the time being, until those platforms confirm their system updates.
Need assistance?
If you have any questions or require support, please contact the Ocean Network Express Egypt office.
Contact details are available at:
https://eua.one-line.com/office-location
We appreciate your cooperation and support as we implement this important regulatory change.