From July 12 to 16, 2021, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) held a meeting of its Nomenclature and Tariff Committee in Douala, Cameroon, as part of its ongoing work to prepare for the implementation of the 2022 version of the Harmonized System (HS). This meeting, which was a follow-up to the initial work undertaken over the past 18 months, was organized in close cooperation with the WCO, within the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme) funded by the European Union.

The meeting brought together tariff experts from Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and the Central African Republic, as well as the Secretariats of the CEMAC and the Economic Community of the States of the Central Africa (ECCAS) and a representative of the WCO.

It was opened by Mr Michel NIAMA, Commissioner in charge of the Common Market Department, representing the CEMAC Commission who underlined the importance of the migration from the CEMAC Tariff to the HS 2022 in order to respect continental and regional commitments.

During the meeting, the experts reviewed the draft CEMAC Tariff to ensure that it incorporates all the amendments contained in the respective WCO Recommendations. The Committee concluded the meeting by provisionally adopting a draft CET based on the HS 2022 and giving discharge to the Cameroon team to carry out final proofreading before transmitting the CET to the publishing house for printing.

The CEMAC Commission will continue its cooperation with the WCO under the HS-Africa Programme to ensure the timely and coordinated implementation of the HS 2022 amendments.

For more details, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.