Improvements were part of a broader reform that cut the number of tariff bands from 27 to 6 and simplified inspections. The inspiration was the association agreement with the European Union. New one stop shops were launched for traders at the ports, cutting the time to import by seven days and the time to export by five.[3] According to Doing Business 2009, the port of Alexandria continued to upgrade its facilities and sped customs clearance, reducing the time to export by 1 day and the time to import by 3.