Date of issue: 15 April 2025
Date of effect: Immediate
Related MAAs: MAA 2024-55, MAA2023-39, MAA2023-04, MAA2022-17, MAA2022-04
Attention
- Industry bodies – Dairy Australia, Infant Nutrition Council, Dairy Export Industry Consultative Committee, Australian Food and Grocery Council
- Dairy Export Establishments
- Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Central and Regional offices
Purpose
This Market Access Advice provides an update to MAA 2024-55 on a decision by the Egyptian Government not to impose halal certification requirements on imported dairy products.
Key points
The Egyptian Government has elected to exclude imported milk and milk products from a requirement to be accompanied by halal certification.
In 2021, the Government of Egypt signalled its intent to require halal certification for imported dairy products to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Since then, Egypt has issued eight addendums to its initial notification, delaying the implementation of this requirement for milk and milk products (most recently until 31 December 2025).
On 12 March 2025, the Egyptian Government informed trading partners that it was excluding imports of milk and milk products from the scope of its halal certification requirements.
As such, Australian exports of milk and milk products to Egypt will not be subject to these requirements.
Exporters should continue to work closely with their importers to ensure milk and milk products exported to Egypt meet all importing country requirements. Commercial halal certification may still be required for products labelled as halal and exported to Egypt.
Micor
The Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor) will be updated to reflect this market access advice. The department encourages users of Micor to subscribe to the Micor update service for a commodity-specific email that lists changes that have been made the preceding week.
Further information
Contact exportstandards@aff.gov.au if you have any queries.
The information provided in this advice is current at the time of writing and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive. The Commonwealth endeavours to keep information current and accurate, however, it may be subject to change without notice. Exporters are encouraged to verify these details with their importers prior to undertaking production/exports. The Commonwealth will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on information contained in this notice.