(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon has officially implemented the ninth phase of tariff dismantling under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom, effective August 4, 2024. According to a statement issued by Finance Minister Louis Paul Motazé on August 5, this phase grants full exemptions on customs tariffs for “100% of goods in the first group, 100% of goods in the second group, and 50% of goods in the third group” imported from the EU and the UK.
This phase notably increases exemptions on third-group goods, which include high-revenue products such as commercial vehicles, fuels, motorcycles, and cement. Tariffs on these products have been reduced by 50%, compared to 40% in 2023. The EPA stipulates that tariffs on these items will decrease by 10% annually.
Second-group goods, which began seeing tariff reductions on August 4, 2017, at a rate of 15% per year, are now fully exempt from customs duties as of August 4, 2023. This group of products includes plasters, lime, marble, clinkers, food industry inputs (such as flavoring mixtures for food or beverages, yeast, etc.), machine wires, electric generators and rotary converters, machinery and equipment, commercial vehicles (trucks, etc.), trailers and semi-trailers, wheelbarrows, and certain vehicle parts and accessories (bumpers, seat belts, brakes, wheels, clutches).
First-group goods, which started tariff dismantling on August 4, 2016, with a 25% annual reduction, have enjoyed full exemption from customs duties since August 4, 2019. This group includes pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, pesticides, oilseed cakes, paper and cardboard, bitumen and other petroleum residues, soda, gypsum, chalk, lime, gas, inorganic and organic chemicals, computers, special-use vehicles, tractors, as well as parts and accessories of motorcycle, bicycle, and wheelchair, and laboratory equipment, and more.
Despite initial concerns over potential revenue losses due to the EPAs, which continue to include the UK post-Brexit, the impact on Cameroon’s public treasury has been less severe than anticipated. In 2022, Cameroon saw a customs revenue shortfall of CFA20 billion, lower than the projected CFA27 billion. In the first half of 2023, customs revenue losses related to the EPA implementation reached CFA8.6 billion, a 61% year-on-year increase.
Moreover, despite the increased tariff dismantling under the EPA with the EU and UK, Cameroon’s customs revenue has been steadily rising, surpassing CFA1,000 billion for the first time at the end of 2023. Experts attribute this growth to Cameroon’s diversification of its trade partners in recent years. While the EU remains Cameroon’s primary economic partner, the country has significantly strengthened its trade relations with China, which has been both Cameroon’s top customer and supplier since 2013.
