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Algeria's lawmakers propose duty-free professional equipment for returning expatriates

1 November 2026 · Algeria Now

Algeria's lawmakers propose duty-free professional equipment for returning expatriates — Photo : Sandervalya / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

ALGIERS — Algerians living abroad who decide to return home and resume their trade could import their professional equipment free of customs duties, under an amendment adopted by a parliamentary committee.

The Finance and Budget Committee of the National People's Assembly (APN), the lower house, approved the measure in its preliminary report on the 2027 Finance Bill. It would apply to citizens registered with an Algerian consulate who have lived abroad continuously for three years. Beneficiaries would also be exempt from foreign trade and exchange controls on the equipment concerned.

Several conditions are attached. Applicants would have to prove at least two years of professional activity abroad, register that activity in Algeria before customs clearance, and agree not to transfer the equipment for five years. The conditions tie the benefit to genuine professional activity.

The proposal is not yet law. It must be debated in plenary session, where examination of the bill runs from 2 to 16 November, and then follow the rest of the legislative process, which includes the Council of the Nation, the upper house.

The measure fits a wider effort to strengthen ties with the diaspora. This week, the hydrocarbons minister received the coordinator of the Higher Council of the National Scientific Community Abroad, in line with directives from President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to involve Algerians abroad in national development. Millions of people of Algerian origin live overseas, mostly in France, and many have skills that the authorities say the country needs.

For a craftsman, mechanic, dentist or small manufacturer abroad, the cost of shipping and clearing tools is often a decisive barrier to returning. By removing duties, the committee is signalling that the state wants to make that choice easier. The plenary debate will show whether the proposal survives unchanged.

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