Includes customs regulations and contact information for this country's customs office.
Last Published: 8/6/2019

Cameroon developed a “Single Window for Foreign Trade Operations” (GUCE) for customs procedures in the Port Authority of Douala in December 2000, though implementation remains spotty.  The GUCE brings together services of banks, the Douala Port Authority, SGS, Customs, the Treasury, exchange offices, the National Office of Cocoa and Coffee, and the phytosanitary services to reduce the length of import procedures to seven days and export procedures to two days.

Douala and the Kribi Deep Sea Port are regional ports.  Goods in transit to the Republic of Congo and the landlocked countries of Chad and the Central African Republic are stored in freight forwarders’ bonded warehouses, with an amount equal to the value of assessed import tax held by Cameroonian Customs as a guarantee of re-export.  The guarantee is released when the goods exit Cameroon.  With the introduction of the GPS tracking system, Cameroonian Customs and SGS track goods destined to neighboring countries.  Cameroon requires Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI), which should be carried out for all imports into the country.  This exercise is undertaken in the port of exporting country for the purpose of Customs clearance of the goods.  In addition, shippers must obtain a “Bordereau Electronique de Suivi des Cargaisons“(BESC) from the Cameroon Shippers Council office in Douala prior to loading cargo, and attach it to export customs documents.  Should they fail to do so, they can still obtain the document within five days following vessel’s sailing date with a penalty, which may rise to 50 percent of the cost of the original BESC.  Any cargo loaded in or bound for Cameroon ports, with the exception of cargo in transit and/or in trans-shipment, must be covered by an Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN) duly validated by the Cameroon National Shippers' Council (CNSC) or its representative.

Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI)
SGS CAMEROUN S.A.
1084, Bd du Général Leclerc
BP 12140 Douala
Cameroon
Tel: + 237 3 342 10 28/57
Fax: + 237 3 343 09 44

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