n/a

One year after the post-electoral crisis, the security and socio-political situation has gradually improved in the major part of Côte d'Ivoire, enabling the return of several hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and refugees in countries of the sub-region to their places of origin. However, significant security issues (abuses and armed attacks against civilians) persist, as well as community tensions particularly in the west and south-west of the country.

Côte d'Ivoire remains a fragile country in phase of recovery, strongly affected by the after-effects of the many crises that it has gone through for more than one decade, with the latest leading to a worst situation. The reconstruction, peace consolidation and reconciliation process will probably be extremely long and difficult, because President Ouattara's Government is facing numerous challenges, including the restoration of a secure environment throughout the country and along borders, the restoration of the rule of law and justice, the consolidation of State services, reconciliation and reinforcement of social cohesion, economic revival and the fight against poverty.

In this transition context, humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable populations remains an absolute priority, including the protection of civilians, the restoration of livelihoods, the voluntary return and reintegration of the internally displaced people and refugees. Indeed, several hundreds of thousands of people are still in a situation of high vulnerability, mainly in the western and south-western regions, either because they are still internally displaced (more than 186,000 according to humanitarian actors), or because they have not recovered their livelihoods or are still exposed to abuses committed by armed men. Significant needs persist in all sectors - protection, health, access to water, shelters, education, food security, nutrition and early rehabilitation. Moreover, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees, 182,000 Ivorian refugees are still living in countries of the region, including more than 156,000 in Liberia (figures of 20 October 2011).

Warehousing facilities are in general weatherproof. Storage will not suffer from adverse weather conditions. High degree of humidity may restrict the long-term storage of food commodities in the coastal area.During the peak of the export season (November – April) storage capacity can be in short supply in the Abidjan and San Pedro port perimeter

Nov - Apr

Rain and tornadoes will bring all outside cargo handling operations in port, transit areas and warehouses to a standstill.

Jan - Jan

Unless the roads leading into Guinea are rehabilitated, major transport operations via San Pedro (or Abidjan) into Guinea should be positively avoided during the rainy season

Apr - Nov

No

No

No

No

The customs regulations in Côte d’Ivoire are also regulated by the directives of: Communauté Economique des Etats de l’Afrique Occidentale – CEDEAO Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africain - UEMOA (Full membership)

•  UN Agencies and NGOs need to be duly recognised and registered with the Ministry of Planning and Development. Their assistance or development project should as a rule be covered by a Memorandum or Letter of Understanding signed by the Ministry of Planning and Development setting out clearly the objectives of the project and the duties of all project stakeholders (government, state agencies and services, local authorities, UN Agency or NGO) This document should also list the means and assets to be activated in line with the project. Furthermore, UN Agencies and NGOs must comply with article 159 of the “Code des Douanes”.

•  UN Agencies and NGOs need to be duly recognised and registered with the Ministry of Planning and Development. Their assistance or development project should as a rule be covered by a Memorandum or Letter of Understanding signed by the Ministry of Planning and Development setting out clearly the objectives of the project and the duties of all project stakeholders (government, state agencies and services, local authorities, UN Agency or NGO) This document should also list the means and assets to be activated in line with the project. Furthermore, UN Agencies and NGOs must comply with article 159 of the “Code des Douanes”.

One original of « attestation de valeur CIF »

One original of « attestation de valeur CIF »

One original of « attestation de valeur CIF »

One original of « attestation de valeur CIF »

One original of « attestation de valeur CIF »

One original of « attestation de valeur CIF »

I copy of B/L or AWB

I copy of B/L or AWB

I copy of B/L or AWB

I copy of B/L or AWB

I copy of B/L or AWB

I copy of B/L or AWB

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Not required

Phytosanitary Certificate if applicable

n/a

Import authorization from the Ministry of Health

n/a

n/a

Authorisation from ATCI

1) The clearance of cargoes and commodities under exoneration of duties and taxes takes, considering the extra formalities to be accomplished, more time than the clearance of normal commercial cargo. The exoneration form application process at the level of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Division: Protocole II) takes two weeks as a rule. In case of urgency this process can be shortened but will definitely still take five to six days. Another three to five days are required for the processing of the documents at the level of the  “Section des Exonérations” of Côte d’Ivoire Customs.

2) Hospital and dispensary medical equipment are often assimilated with medicines and the same regulations as for medicines will apply. Importation is therefore subject to the prior approval of the Ministry of Health.

Simultaneously with the application for D & T exoneration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an application must be lodged with the “Office Ivoirien des Chargeurs – OIC” for the issuance of a “Bordereau de Suivi de Cargaison - BSC”(Cargo Tracking Note). This document is issued free of charge on the strength of the “Franchise Form” duly signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For commercial cargoes and consignments which do not benefit of D & T exoneration, the BSC will be charged 25 € per bill of lading.

Once the duly approved “Franchise Form” and “BSC Form” are on hand then the complete set of original documents (comprising: B/L, certificates of Health, phytosanitary certificate, non-GMO certificate, certificate of origin, packing list, plus the Franchise form (exoneration form), the “attestation de valeur CIF” and the BSC) is handed over to the forwarding agent, preferably minimum 72 hours prior to the vessel’s arrival

The forwarding agent then accomplishes all the necessary (legal) customs and clearance formalities. The forwarding agent must be duly recognised and registered with the Customs Authority. The appointment of a competent C & F agent (in French: “déclarant en douane” or “transitaire”) is therefore strongly recommended.

Once the customs formalities accomplished the C & F agent will take delivery of the goods, have these removed from the port area and will arrange the despatch of the goods to the designated warehouse of the UN agency or NGO. (In the Abidjan or San Pedro area or directly up-country as the case may be) o Consignments and particularly food-aid commodities can be subject to customs and phytosanitary agents’ physical inspection.

NB : - Vehicles are submitted to the regime of temporary admission (Admission Temporaire ou d’Exonération). Medicines will require an authorization from the Ministry of Health plus a gift certificate.

Restrictions on sugar imports.

n/a

GMO commodities cannot be imported.

One Invoice In the absence of an invoice (in case of donations or donations in kind) a “declaration the valeur CIF”

One Invoice In the absence of an invoice (in case of donations or donations in kind) a “declaration the valeur CIF”

One Invoice In the absence of an invoice (in case of donations or donations in kind) a “declaration the valeur CIF”

One Invoice In the absence of an invoice (in case of donations or donations in kind) a “declaration the valeur CIF”

One Invoice In the absence of an invoice (in case of donations or donations in kind) a “declaration the valeur CIF”

One Invoice In the absence of an invoice (in case of donations or donations in kind) a “declaration the valeur CIF”

1 original B/L or AWB plus 1 Non- negotiable B/L or AWB

1 original B/L or AWB plus 1 Non- negotiable B/L or AWB

1 original B/L or AWB plus 1 Non- negotiable B/L or AWB

1 original B/L or AWB plus 1 Non- negotiable B/L or AWB

1 original B/L or AWB plus 1 Non- negotiable B/L or AWB

1 original B/L or AWB plus 1 Non- negotiable B/L or AWB

Not required anymore

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes if available

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Certificates of Origin, Health, phyto-sanitary and fumigation Non-GMO certificate. BSC. « Franchise Form » duly signed for approval.

Certificates of Origin BSC « Franchise Form » duly signed for approval.

Certificates of Origin. Import Authorization of the Ministry of Health BSC « Franchise Form » duly signed for approval.

Certificates of Origin  For second hand vehicle “ Carte Grise” (Registry Card) and B/L. For new vehicles:  Invoice, B/L, insurance certificate and inspection certificate by BIVAC. BSC « Franchise Form » duly signed for approval.

Certificates of Origin BSC « Franchise Form » duly signed for approval.

Certificates of Origin Import Autorisation of “ATCI Agence de Télécommunication de Côte d’Ivoire” BSC « Franchise Form » duly signed for approval.

1) For the clearance of cars – whether new, second-hand, exonerated or not – consult the Côte d’Ivoire Customs Authorities.

2) Also note that the exoneration granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs covers only the normal duties and taxes and not taxes like “ Taxes de services particuliers rendus”. Special service charges are e.g. raised for the scan of import containers. Such charges do not fall in the category of the standard dues and taxes and must therefore be paid.

3) If goods are shipped in containers it is good practice to apply for a 21 days container franchise period instead of the usual free period of 15 days granted by the shipping line. This will save the payment of extra container demurrage charges if the customs clearance formalities are delayed.

4) For the entire import clearance process (application for exoneration of D & T and the customs formalities at the point of entry one must reckon between 21 to 28 days. Early reception of the full set of shipping documents (prior to arrival of the goods) should therefore be the rule.

5) In the rare cases that goods are subject to the payment of import dues and taxes, specific arrangements to this effect have to be made with the appointed C & F agent who may be willing to pre-finance the amount of import duties.