Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid said on Monday that Egypt was preparing to reduce the Israeli component in products under the qualifying industrial zone (QIZ) agreement, the official MENA news agency reported.

Under the agreement signed by Egypt, the United States and Israel, Egypt is allowed to export products to the United States duty-free if the products contain 11.7 percent of component from Israel.

At a meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Jan. 4, Olmert promised to decrease by 1 percent the Israeli component in QIZ products, Rachid said.

He said that after finalizing the adoption of required measures and arrangements, the timing of putting the decrease into effect will be announced.