Q1: As per the Type Approval charges mentioned on the TRA website, the importer has to pay 1, 200,000 LBP when it comes to Importer License for Class 1 products. Does the fee apply for every product? Is there any other applicable fee aside from the mentioned 1, 200 000 LBP?
A1:
The charge 1,200,000 LBP is only the fee for getting the Import License prior to apply for Type Approval. The Type Approval fee of class 1 RTTE which is 540,000 LBP should be paid per model/type of RTTE and not per product, e.g. the printer type is considered as one RTTE. If you apply for Type Approval for more than one type of printer, the charges will be 540,000 x Number of RTTE type. For each type you can import unlimited number of product during the validity period of the Import license and the Type Approval.
Q2: According to the new law, SRD equipment belongs to Class2 and the period of validity is two years. Was there a period of validity prior to the implementation of the new regulation and was there any label requirement? If the old certification doesn’t have an expiry date, is the certification still termless and valid after the start of the new law?
A2:
Under the old approval regime, there is no Type Approval Certificate granted by the MoT, the approval process consists of presenting the “Customs Declaration” to the MoT that studies the equipments specifications and approves their importation through the signature of the “Customs Declaration”. The signed customs declaration is presented once to the Customs in order to allow entering the equipment to the Lebanese territories. The importer has to apply for approval and follow the same process each time he imports the same type of equipments. However, under the new regime the importer will be granted a Type Approval certificate valid for two years during which he can import the approved equipments at any time without referring to the TRA.
Q3: A Type approval needs to be renewed every 2 years; will the TA number remain the same?
A3:
The Import License and the type approval numbers will not be changed during the renewal process.