Rubber

Procédure d’exportation

I-INTRODUCTION

In Côte d’Ivoire, Law N°2017-540 of 03 August 2017 sets the rules relating to the regulation, control and monitoring of the activities of the rubber and oil palm sectors.
 Decree N°228 of 28 February 2018 name of the Body in charge of the regulation, control and monitoring of the activities of the Rubber and Oil Palm sectors, namely the Rubber-Oil Palm Council (CHPH for short).
The exercise of the profession of rubber products exporter is subject to obtaining an Approval issued by the Rubber-Oil Palm Council, under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in accordance at Article 11 of Law N°540 of 03 August 2017.
The export of rubber products also gives rise to the payment, by the exporter, of duties and taxes due to the State – See. DUS list 2018

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Abidjan – Plateau
CAISTAB Building, 24th and 25th floors
01 BP 12243 Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire
Tel: (+225) 20 21 43 03
Website  http://www.agriculture.gouv.ci
Email : minagri.cabinet@agriculture.gouv.ci / cabminagri@yahoo.fr

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Direction des Productions de Rente
Abidjan – Plateau
CAISTAB Building, 4th floor, Door 10.

APROMAC (
Association of Natural Rubber Professionals of Côte d’Ivoire)
Abidjan – Cocody Angré 7ème tranche
(behind Power 6 Company)
Tel : (+225) 22 41 46 16
Email : info@apromac.ci

II-AUTHORIZATION TO EXPORT

The export of rubber products (machined rubber and cup bottoms (raw rubber)) is reserved for the operators listed below, provided that they hold an Approval as an Exporter in the process of being validity:

  • Any natural or legal person whose main activity is the production of rubber products.
  • Commercial companies under Ivorian law whose purpose is the exploitation of rubber.
  • Agro-industrial companies under Ivorian law whose purpose is to export rubber products.
  • Cooperative companies and their unions, federations or confederations operating in the rubber sectors.

Exporter Quality Approval is issued for a renewable period of five (5) years by the Rubber-Palmier Oil Council in charge of regulating, controlling and monitoring the activities of the rubber sectors..
However, exceptionally, and according to Interministerial Orders n°635 of November 30, 2018 [A2018.635] and [A2018.663] n°663 of December 27, 2018 granting exceptional authorization for the export of rubber cup bottoms, any operator is granted an Exceptional Authorization to Export Hevea Cup Funds, until December 31, 2019.
These operators must first obtain a Prior Export Authorization issued by the Rubber-Oil Palm Council

  1. EXPORT APPROVAL (FOR MACHINED RUBBER)

The Approval application must be submitted to APROMAC, which verifies and compiles the file and sends it to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. This request must be accompanied by the following documents:

  • Approval request for the export of natural rubber formulated by APROMAC.
  • Copy of contracts with suppliers and customers.
  •  Identification of the operator: geographical location (address, telephone, fax, email, etc.), presentation of the leaders.
  •  Description of the characteristics of the machining methods and of the type of rubber produced for which approval is sought (attach a certificate of analysis from an approved laboratory).
  •  List and description of machining equipment.
  • Number of employees and qualifications of factory and/or plantation managers.
  • Amount of capital.
  • Investment Approval Decision (issued by CEPICI).
  • Order on Investment Approval (issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance).
  • Copy of the Order of the Ministry of the Environment approving the environmental impact study for the establishment of the plant. 

Approval cost: 500,000 CFA francs.

Upon receipt of the file, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organizes a joint visit to the site with the Ministry in charge of Trade and the Ministry in charge of Industry and produces a Visit Report.
The Ministry of Agriculture is prepares a draft Rubber Plant Exporter Approval Order for signature by the Minister, to which it attaches the following documents:

  • Report of the visit to the factory site carried out by the joint team composed of the Ministries in charge of Agriculture, in charge of Trade and in charge of Industry.
  • Report from the analytical laboratory on the treatment product. 
  • Copy of Decree N° 212 of 10 March1999  on the marketing of rubber.
  • Copy of Order No. 057 of June 08, 1999 [A99.057] setting the conditions for approval of natural rubber exporters.
  • Copy of the Investment Approval Decision issued by CEPICI.
  • Copy of the Order on Investment Approval issued by the MPMEF.
  • Copy of the Order approving the Environmental and Social impact study issued by the Ministry of the Environmentt.

The deadline for issuing an Approval, from the submission of the file to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development by APROMAC, is one (1) month maximum.

II-DOCUMENTS

  1. Prior Export Authorization (for rubber cup bottoms)

The file can only be submitted by a legally constituted company. The following file must be submitted to the Hévéa-Palmier à Huile Council at the CAISTAB Building, 4th floor, Door 11:

  • Complete the structure information form (structure information letter).
  • Letter of request.
  • Extract from the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register – To be presented only once, on the first request.
  • Declaration Fiscale d’Existence (DFE) – To be presented only once, during the first application.
  • The Tax Regularity Certificate (ARF) valid and issued to the Tax Center of the district where the company is domiciled).
  • CNPS regularity certificate in progress.
  • For companies subject to online declaration (e-tax): the receipt or payment certificate issued by the General Tax Department.

Cost of the application : 5, 000 FCFA / File
Deadline for authorisation: authorisations are issued at the beginning of each months.
Period of Validity of the Authorisation: 2 months from the date of issue 

To be noted

  • The global annual quota granted in 2019 by Article 5 of Order n°663 of 27 December 2018 [A2018-663] for the export of cup bottoms is 350,000 T, which is equivalent to a global quota of 35,000 T/month over the 10 months of the rubber harvest.
  • The Prior Export Authorization and proof of payment issued by the Tax Department and by the Rubber-Oil Palm Council are admissibility documents for export.

  1. Export Certificate and Exchange Commitment

When the value of the goods to be exported is greater than or equal to ten (10) million FCFA, an Export Certificate and an Exchange Commitment are necessary to have the Export Declaration validated by Customs. – See Regulation 09/1998/CM/ WAEMU.
The Export Certificate – See. Example AE – and the Exchange Commitment – See. Example EC – are established online, via the transactional site of  Foreign Trade Single Window (GUCE). Access to the site requires prior registration as an importer, exporter or freight forwarder. The information and documents to be provided are as follows::

  • Professional Exporter Code (or Occasional Exporter Code).
  • Name and address of the Declarant.
  • Information appearing on the invoice (name of the receiver, HS code of the goods, quantity, amount invoiced, etc.).
  • Name of the bank (in Côte d’Ivoire) involved in the transaction.
  • The bill.

  1. Customs declaration

List of documents to send to the freight forwarder to make the Export Declaration to Customs :

  • The Exporter Code.
  •  The Original Invoice.
  • The Export Certificate (if the value is greater than ten (10) million FCFA, via the GUCE) (may be carried out by the freight forwarder).
  • The Change Commitment, via the GUCE (perhaps carried out by the freight forwarder).
  • The Certificate of Origin (EUR1 or UEMOA/ECOWAS or Form A).
  • Exporter Approval (for machined rubber) or Prior Export Authorization (for cup bottoms) for the year 2018.

 Prior Export Certificate (Origin).

 

  1. Quality Control and Packaging of Cup Bottoms

The quality control and packaging of rubber cup bottoms intended for export by sea must meet the following conditions:

  • Have a dry matter rate or Dry Rubber Content (DRC) greater than or equal to 65%.
  • Be free of any contaminants.

Rubber cup bottoms intended for export by sea are subject to quality control by a company approved by the CHPH and responsible for issuing a Certificate of Conformity. In accordance with Decision N°021/CHPH/DG/ of 12 February 2019 of the Director General of the Hevea-Palm Oil Council, the following companies are approved, on an exclusive basis, as Quality Control Operators for Hevea cup bottoms intended for export:

Structures

Contact(s)

SGS

(+225) 21 75 22 00 / (+225) 21 75 22 03

BUREAU VERITAS

(+225) 20 31 25 00

KMS

(+225) 21 35 02 05 / (+225) 21 35 22 74/ (+225) 34 71 82 29

ACE

(+225) 20 25 48 50

PHYTOCI

(+225) 21 24 03 12

 

Hevea cup bottoms must also be packaged in watertight packaging: the standards and technical specifications for packaging and packaging are specified in a CHPH circular note currently being prepared.
For the time being, the packaging, standards and specifications are determined by Article 4 of Order n°635 of 30 November 2018.

  1. Phytosanitary certificate

Phytosanitary control is carried out after quality control and packaging. It is carried out either on the platforms set up by the actors, or in the Ports of Abidjan or San Pedro, by the Direction de la Protection des Végétaux, du Contrôle et de la Qualité (DPVCQ) of the Ministry of Agriculture  

The Phytosanitary Certificate is issued by the Direction de la Protection des Végétaux, du Contrôle et de la Qualité (DPVCQ) at the Port of Abidjan or San Pedro, after shipment by sea.

Phytosanitary Control Procedure for Rubber Plant Exports

The freight forwarder in charge of the export makes a Request for Control (ROC) of the products which includes :

  • An Application for Plant Health Control in three (3) copies – [Cf. application form for Plant Health Control].
  • A copy of the Export Approval.
  • The Certificate of Conformity issued by the Approved Certification Body for quality and packaging.
  • A Safety Data Sheet issued by the approved certification body for quality and packaging.
  • A Phytosanitary Treatment Follow-up Request.
  • Payment of the Phytosanitary Inspection Control i.e. 0.3 F CFA / kg  –  See. Inter-ministerial Order n°005 of 30 December 2016.

The DPVCQ monitors potting (in containers) and supervises the phytosanitary treatment by fumigation of products already containerised by applicators approved by the Hevea-Palm Oil Council.

Fumigation costs are to be borne by the exporters.
The duration of the treatment is 72 hours, after which the QFCPD takes samples, checks and analyses the products.
If the inspection is satisfactory, the QFCPD then issues a Docking Authorisation (DWA) and issues an Inspection Report.
Validity period of the inspection and AMQ: [See. Table of Validity Periods].


Phytosanitary Inspection Procedures for Export Rubber Cup Bottoms

Steps

Operations

Responsibilities

Deadline

1

Submission of a phytosanitary control file to the Phytosanitary Inspectorate at the Port of Abidjan or San Pedro, including A Phytosanitary Control Request. An Application for Stuffing. A copy of the Export Approval or Export Authorisation. Application for Fumigation. Certificate of conformity issued by the approved certification body for quality and packaging. A safety data sheet issued by the approved certification body for quality and packaging.

Exporter (or his freight forwarder)

24 hours before the start of the intervention of the Phytosanitary Inspection services.

2

Potting of dry rubber cup bottoms (PH3 is flammable on wet products) on the site chosen for this purpose.

Exporter (or his freight forwarder) in the presence of the Phytosanitary Inspection.

24h.

3

Phytosanitary treatment in 20-foot container: With Aluminum Phosphide or Magnesium Phosphide. Arrange the Metal Phosphide in fabric pockets. Dosage: 30 tablets. 30 tablets divided into two pouches, with 15 tablets per pouch, placed on the two opposite sides of the container. After 72 hours: the pouches are removed and the container is immediately closed, sealed and ready for export.

Applicators under the supervision of phytosanitary inspectors.

72h.

4

Issuance of the Disinfection Certificate (AD).

Applicators for the duration of the fumigation

24h.

5

Issuance of a Docking Authorization (AMQ).

Phytosanitary inspection.

24h.

6

Embarkation / Issuance of the B/L after departure from the vessel.

Shipowner / forwarder.

72h.

7

Online submission and Introduction of the Phytosanitary Certificate Application including : The draft certificate edited from the GUCE. A Disinfection Certificate (AD). A Phytosanitary Control Request. A boarding slip. A Potting Report.

Exporter (or his freight forwarder).

24h.

8

Issuance of the Phytosanitary Certificate from the submission of the Certificate Application.

Phytosanitary Inspection.

48h.

Notice :

  • All cup bottoms intended for export are systematically fumigated.
  • After 72 hours of fumigation, the product is shipped without degassing, a condition necessary to prolong the action of the fumigant during maritime transport.

Issuance of the Phytosanitary Certificate

For goods travelling by air or road, the Phytosanitary Certificate is issued immediately after the Phytosanitary Inspection.
For goods travelling by sea, the freight forwarder must submit an Application for a Phytosanitary Certificate comprising:

  • Application for a Phytosanitary Certificate.
  • A copy of the Bill of Lading.
  • Authorisation to berth.
  • Fumigation Certificate.
  • Packing or Embarkation Report.

The Phytosanitary Certificate is issued free of charge within 48 hours of submission of the application.