Israel’s agreement with Egypt to exchange goods by way of the overland route across Sinai will become operative Thursday when three truck-loads of paper are dispatched to Egypt from Hadera. The agreement, finalized during Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s visit to Cairo last September, took effect yesterday when the route was officially opened.
The first exporters are the Hadera Paper Mills. Their shipment will be carried to the Neat Sinai border post where it will be transferred, to Egyptian trucks for the rest of the trip. That process was agreed to in order to comply with Egyptian regulations forbidding foreign-licensed commercial vehicles from travelling on Egyptian roods. A truckload of fruits and vegetables grown by Arab formers in the northern Sinai area is also scheduled to leave for Egypt on Thursday.
The overland route, which has been open a private cars and tourist buses since the Israeli Egyptian peace treaty took effect, has commercial advantages for exporters of freight. It is less time consuming than sea-borne shipments and less expensive than air cargo.
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