Cameroon - Importing goods

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Procedure

1.The Cameroon procedures of obtaining an import license have been simplified. The applicant only has to do the following:-

• Start by obtain a commerce register and a taxpayers card from the Minister of Economy and Finance;
• Go to the Ministry of Commerce and register;
• If importing items above CFA 2,000,000, notify the Societe Camerounaise de Surveillance (SGS);
• Then after registration proceed with clearing customs tariffs; and
• Then organize for transportation.

2.The Union of Central African States CAEMIC / CAEMC has some temporary admission made for importation.

• The normal temporary system admission. This is authorization to exporters who tend to re-export materials after spending some days in customs territory. In this case an export has to do the following;-
• The applicant must submit application to the Director General of customs.
• The customs the looks through application and a decision is made basing on convention, act of committee of the Union of Central African States or on customs regulations.
• If a proved, the applicants then proceeds to customs to make declaration of D18 mode.
• The special temporary system admission: this is authorization to exporters who intend to import temporarily
• The applicant must submit application to the Director General of customs.
• The customs the looks through application and a decision is made basing on convention, act of committee of the Union of Central African States or on customs regulations.
• If a proved, the applicants then proceeds to customs to make declaration of D18 mode.

3.Traders may decide to take on special procedures for clearance. These include:-

• Clearance at home: This helps the applicant to easily withdraw their goods from entry ports. In order to take on this procedure, an applicant must:-
• Have proof of important and regular flow of transactions with foreign countries, on raw materials, equipment and their accessories;
• Recognized solvency
• Withdrawal under hoist and Direct withdrawal
• Withdrawal under hoist is withdrawing goods direct from the ship and goods taking then to a wedge store. In this case declaration must be deposited and verified before the arrival of the ship.
• Direct withdrawal. In this case, goods are first taken to a wedge store and withdrawal is done rapidly as declaration is summarized.

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Required Documents

• Tax clearance documents / certificate
• Import permits (for importation of some good / services)
• Customs Clearance Documents
• Copies of Commercial invoice and a bill of lading for all imported goods.
• Agreement / approval certificate (acknowledging that the business operator is an importer)
• Documentation of bank transactions (if the value exceeds 2,000,000)
• Pre- shipment inspection certificate
• Automobile license (for vehicles)

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Office Locations & Contacts

1.Ministre des Finances (MINFI)

Telephone: (237)22220079

Fax: (237)22233717

2.Direction Gnrale des Douanes (DGD

Telephone: (237)22202546

Fax: (237)22203771

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://douanescustoms-cm.net/en/home.html

3.The Societe Camerounaise de Surveillance, SGS

Director of Customs Valuation

Telephone: (+237) 22-20 2541

Website: http://www.sgs.com/

4.Agence des Normes et de la Qualite, ANOR

National Agency for Standards and Quality

General Director Charles Botoo a Ngon

P.O Box 14996 Yaound, Cameroon

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +237) 2222-6496

Website: http://www.anorcameroon.org

Eligibility

Anyone who meets the requirements of importation in to Cameroon.

Fees

The Common External Tariff (TEC) 5-30 percent 1. Necessity goods 5% 2. Materials and equipment 10% 3. Semi-processed) goods 30% 4. Consumption imported goods 30%
Value Added Tax 19.25%
There are no importation fees among countries of the Union of Central African States CAEMC. Only value-added tax is applied;

Validity

There is no validity period as long as one meets the requirements, they can import any time

Documents to Use

Import Declaration form

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

Please explain processing time taken in obtaining the document/certificate.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
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Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
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sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
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e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

1. Beware of all government regulations and clearance / custom rules and duty taxes;

2. Be informed about import permits;

3. Beware of restricted and prohibited goods

4. Ensure that transportation marks and numbers match exactly those on the invoices and goods.

5. Submit documents within 48hours of a shipment arrival;

6. Labeling must be in both French and English;

7. Labels must indicate must include the country of origin, name and address of the manufacturer

8. Admissible goods under withdrawal under hoist and direct withdrawal are only perishable and heavy products.

9. An applicant must ensure that he / she declares all imports to customs.

Required Information

1. Full name and address of importer

2. Details of goods / services imported (the name and the quality of the recipient)

3. Purchase cost of good

4. Country from which the goods / services are coming from

5. Reason for the stay of the material and the time of stay in customs (temporary admission)

Need for the Document

Importing refers to entering goods / services in to a given country from another. Because Cameroon is a member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (in French, CEMAC), it has adopted importation procedures of this union. Member countries have a common currency managed by a common central bank. They share a common financial regulatory and legal structure, and maintain a common external tariff on imports from non-CEMAC countries.

Information which might help

• In Cameroon, the Department of Price Control, Weights and Measures is officially administers standards of imported goods.

• If a contractor is importing equipment or supplies related to public contracts and the duties are part of government investment, then he / she may obtain a duty exemption from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

• Nationals are able to enjoy items that are not on the local market;
• Importation increases revenue of a country;
• There is promotes international trade;
• Job opportunities are created as foreigners set companies to import in the country

External Links

http://douanescustoms-cm.net/en/procedures/export.html

http://export.gov/logistics/eg_main_018121.asp#P2_574

http://web.ita.doc.gov/tacgi/OverSeasNew.nsf/alldata/Cameroon

Others

More information which might help people.