• The Export Councils, which are advisory bodies that are neither elected nor part of the executive branch, are still operating on the basis of the ministerial decree that was issued to regulate them; the decree is valid through the end of 2019. 

The Following are some key issues that need addressing:

• There is a fee for one of the required export rebate application forms; this is a flaw in the regulations.
• The settlement of overdue export rebate arrears owed to a number of companies for the period ending July 1, 2019, remains ambiguous. It was announced that the Ministry of Finance will offset these arrears with outstanding tax liabilities. It is not clear, however, how this issue will be resolved for companies with no outstanding tax liabilities for the prior years. 
• Does the export support program allocate a specific fixed amount of funds for each sector? In the case that the volume of exports in one particular sector necessitates the disbursement of funds that exceed the sector’s allocation, how will this situation be resolved?  
• Should Export Councils, which are advisory bodies that are neither elected nor part of the executive branch have the prerogative to decide who is entitled to receive export support? 
• The status of free-zone companies is ambiguous.
• How will export rebates be treated by the Tax Authority, and what mechanisms will be used to disburse the rebates?

• Application processing fees should only be imposed by law.
• Respond to the memo submitted by FEI and FECOC concerning the issue of export rebate allocations, and the extent to which they are commensurate with the actual volume of exports.  

The government’s response to the concerns raised by the Export Councils highlighted the following:

• Efforts will be made to create a legal framework for Export Councils by early 2020.
• Export support is not to be limited to member companies in the Export Councils. However, a number of Export Councils require membership to receive support, particularly with respect to health and safety approvals, and fulfillment of other relevant requirements.  
• The fee imposed on one of the required export rebate application forms is not prescribed by law; rather, it is imposed via an administrative decision made by the Export Councils. This issue will be addressed in the legal framework that will be developed.  
• Settling export rebate arrears will be subject to the new mechanism, which will be applied beginning July 1, 2019. Arrears for time periods before July 1, 2019, will be subject to the old mechanism. This will increase the burden on the EDF, especially that the rebate mechanism for these arrears has not been decided upon yet. EDF board discussed the settlement of arrears owed to companies for the period ending December 31, 2017. 
• Large businesses may receive full support with regard to shipping (this does not address cases where the amount due to the business exceeds the 30% prescribed for technical support).
• Five export councils are contributing LE 6 million towards automating EDF operations. 
• To settle overdue export rebates, the government will randomly select a number of companies with outstanding tax liabilities and offset it with the overdue export rebates; the government will explore mechanisms for settling overdue export rebates for companies with no outstanding tax liabilities. (FEI and FECOC responded to this proposal by highlighting that this will ultimately boil down to rewarding companies that are delinquent in meeting their tax obligations, and penalizing compliant companies that fulfill their obligations on time.)
• Specific amounts of funds are being separately allocated to each sector for export rebate purposes. These allocations will be reviewed periodically to determine their adequacy. (FEI and FECOC notes that this adds more ambiguity to the export support program implementation mechanisms.)