Arab Finance: The House of Representatives, headed by Hisham Badawy, has approved a presidential decree no. 24 of 2026, endorsing Egypt's accession to the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and its dispute settlement protocol, according to a statement.
The agreement is expected to boost trade and economic relations among member states by reducing tariffs, removing non-tariff barriers, and facilitating intra-regional trade. This will contribute to expanding the volume of international trade and diversifying the goods exchanged among the parties.
It stipulates a reduction in customs tariffs according to specific tiers. Customs duties on goods with tariffs exceeding 25% will be reduced to 25%, those with tariffs between 15% and 25% will be cut to 15%, and those between 10% and 15% will be lowered to 10%.
The PTA also prohibits member states from increasing tariffs on goods benefiting from preferential treatment without approval from the supervisory committee.
Meanwhile, participating countries will be required to exchange notifications on applied tariff rates, with a review mechanism scheduled three years after the agreement enters into force.
