The Cameroon Customs is not applying the 10% reduction under the Economic Partnership Agreement whose 5th phase was supposed to go into effect on the 4th August 2020. Importers are being charged the full duty cost at the Douala port. According to information from the Directot of Customs, they are yet to recieve a formal instruction from the Ministry of Finance.
An anonymous source from the Ministry of Finance told CEMAC ECO FINANCE that, the Government of Cameroon has suspended the 5th phase of the EPA . According to correspondence addressed to the Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union: “due to the impact of Covid-19 on public finances but also the uncertainty on the way out of the crisis, the government is suspending provisionally, the dismantling schedule for the products of the second and third groups .”
This phase, “it is the goods of the 3rd category which should be exempted from the discount of 10% per year on the applicable customs duty. Products with high tax returns such as fuels, cement, passenger and passenger vehicles, motorcycles.” About 800 million FCFA is a stake here.
But also, “will have to take their troubles patiently, people wishing to import products from the second group whose dismantling began on August 04, 2017 with an annual discount of 15%. At least, to benefit from the 60% discount instead of the 45% currently applied. These are intermediate products, in particular, industrial equipment necessary to strengthen the national industrialization system.”
Cameroon has based its action on Article 31 of the EPA Statutes which states that the country is free to suspend EPA operations if they are faced with exogenous shocks. But inside sources at the EU say Cameroon is looking for a way to turn down the EPA as CEMAC countries are suspicious of the operation. The EU argues that its support to the Covid 19 response plan in Cameroon is enough to make up for any losses the country might incur.
The country has lost about 16 billion FCFA since the start of the EPA .
