Gold

Procédure d’exportation

I-INTRODUCTION

The Exploitation of Minerals is governed by the Law n°2014.138 of March 24, 2014 and by the Decree n°2014.397 of June 25, 2014.

Metallurgical Ores, Gemstones, Industrial Precious Metals are products subject to Prior Authorization for Export – Cf. Annex E of Decree No. 93-313 of 11 March 1993 – determining the conditions of entry into Côte d’Ivoire of foreign goods of any origin and from any source, as well as the conditions of export and re-export of goods to foreign countries.

Thus the export of Raw Gold is subject to an Approval and is also subject to the joint authorization of the Minister in charge of Mines and the Minister in charge of Finance, in accordance with the regulations in force – Cf. Art.120 of Decree n°2014-397 of 25 June 2014.

Any operator wishing to export minerals (metallurgical ores, stones, gems, precious metals) must therefore apply for a Preliminary Export Authorization from the Ministry of Mines and Geology and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Ministry of Mines and Geology

Abidjan – Plateau

Immeuble Postel 2001, 22nd floor

BP V 65 ABIDJAN

Tel: (+225) 20 21 30 00

Facebook page: https:// web.facebook.com/ mmgci

 

General Directorate of Mines and Geology

Abidjan – Plateau

Cité administrative, Tower E 15th floor

Tel: (+225)20 22 20 27

http://www.mines.gouv.ci

 

Ministry of Economy and Finance

General Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounting

Direction des Établissements de Crédit et des Finances Extérieures (FINEX)

Abidjan – Plateau – Avenue Anoma – Rue des Banques opposite BRVM

Tel: (+225) 20 22 22 74 / (+225) 20 22 02 90

Fax : (+225) 20 22 02 90

Email : decfinex@tresor.gouv.ci

Website: www.tresor.gouv.ci

 

Société pour le Développement Minier de la Côte d’Ivoire (SODEMI)

Abidjan – Cocody Danga, 31, Bd des Martyrs

01 BP 2816 Abidjan 01 – Côte d’Ivoire

Tel: (+225) 22 44 29 96 / (+225) 22 44 29 95 / (+225) 22 44 29 94

Fax : (+225) 22 44 08 21

 

II-EXPORT AUTHORIZATION

Only holders of Gold Industrial Exploitation Permits and beneficiaries of Approval of Raw Gold Buying and Selling Offices are authorized to export Raw Gold.

In accordance with Decree n°2014-397 of June 25, 2014 determining the modalities of application of Law n°2014-138 of March 24, 2014 on the Mining Code, the Approval in the capacity of Raw Gold Buying, and Selling Offices is granted to legal entities under Ivorian law justifying a sufficient financial capacity to undertake this activity.

This Approval is granted by Order of the Minister in charge of Mines, for a period of three (3) years, renewable, to legal entities with no previous history of illicit trade and no link with suspect networks.

The terms and conditions for the approval of buying offices are determined by Order of the Minister in charge of Mines – Cf. Order N 002/MIN/CAB of January 11, 2016 – relating to the procedures for granting and renewing mining titles and authorizations, to the provisions concerning raw gold and gold materials and to the miscellaneous provisions provided for by the mining regulations.

The export of raw gold and gold materials is subject to the general regulations in force. For obtaining the Industrial Exploitation Permit, the regulations are available – Cf. Law n°2014-138 of 24 March 2014 on the Mining Code.

 

  1. Procedure for the Establishment of a Rough Gold Buying and Selling Office

The establishment of a Rough Gold Buying and Selling Office is done through an application to the General Directorate of Mines and Geology (DGMG).

The file is established in two (2) physical copies, one (1) original and one (1) copy.

A digital copy of the file must also be provided on a USB key.

The application file for the granting or renewal of the Approval of a Buying and Selling Office for raw gold must include, under penalty of inadmissibility, the following elements :

 

  • A letter of application addressed to the Minister in charge of Mines.
  • The Company’s Articles of Association.
  • A Trade Register having for object “purchase, sale, export and import of raw gold”.
  • An identity photo of the Manager.
  • A criminal record of the Manager dated less than three (3) months.
  • A Certificate of Residence of the Manager (established by the Police Station of the district where the Manager is domiciled).
  • A valid certificate of tax regularity.
  • A bank certificate and a bank statement dating back to less than three (3) months with a credit balance of at least five (5) million FCFA.
  • Bank certificates from the financial institutions with which the resources are domiciled.
  • The Articles of Association of all affiliated companies, if any.
  • A Legal Document identifying the complete list of all Shareholders each holding at least ten percent (10%) of the shares with their addresses and main activities.
  • Receipt of Payment of the Fixed Fee (One (1) million FCFA or three (3) million FCFA if not paid in installments).
  • Lease contract.

 

Costs

In accordance with Decree n°2014-632 of October 22, 2014, the Cost of Attribution or Renewal of Approval of an Office for the Purchase and Sale of Raw Gold is three (3) million F CFA.

This amount may be paid in three (3) equal fractions of one (1) million FCFA each, the first fraction of which is payable at the time of application and the other tranches no later than the anniversary date of the issuance of the approval of the buying office.

 

Time limit for the admissibility of an application for approval

The Mining Administration has a period of ten (10) working days from the date of submission of the application to inform the applicant whether or not the application is admissible.

Approval period: 90 days from the date of admissibility of the application.

Validity of the Approval : 3 years renewable

 

2 Renewal procedure of a Gold Buying and Selling Office

Renewal of the Approval of a Gold Buying and Selling Office takes place after three (3) years of operation. The application must be submitted one (1) month before the date of expiry of the validity.

The file must be submitted to the General Directorate of Mines and Geology in two (2) physical copies, one (1) original and one (1) copy.

A digital copy of the file on USB key must also be provided. The elements to be provided to constitute the file are the following :

  • A letter of Application for Renewal, duly signed and addressed to the Minister of Industry and Mines.
  • An Activity Report for the previous period.
  • Tax payment receipts relating to the various operations carried out during the period of validity of the Approval of Gold Buying and Selling Offices.
  • A valid Certificate of Fiscal Regularity.
  • Certificates of Repatriation of Export Receipts for the previous period of validity.
  • Receipt of payment of fixed duties.

Costs

The fixed fee for the renewal of the Approval is three (3) million FCFA.

This amount can be paid in three (3) equal fractions of one (1) million FCFA each, the first of which at the time of the application and the other fractions at the latest on the anniversary date of the issuance of the Approval of the Purchasing Office.

 

Time limit for transmitting the receipt for payment of the fixed fee

The applicant has a period of 2 working days from the date of submission of the application file to send the Receipt of Payment of the Fixed Fee to the Mining Administration.

 

Time limit for obtaining an Approval

The Mining Administration has a period of ten (10) working days from the date of submission of the application to analyze the application and inform the applicant whether or not the application is admissible.

Validity of the Approval: 3 years renewable

 

III-DOCUMENTS

  1. Certificate of Compliance, Certificate of Weight and Analysis

Before each shipment, the raw gold or gold materials are appraised by the Société pour le Développement Minier de Côte d’Ivoire (SODEMI), under cover of the Administration des Mines (Direction Générale des Mines et de la Géologie / Services des Contrôles Techniques) for the raw gold buying and selling offices. Other private structures could be approved by the Ministry and be contacted in order to proceed with the expertise of the gold.

Société pour le Développement Minier de la Côte d’Ivoire (SODEMI)

Abidjan – Cocody Danga, 31, Bd des Martyrs

01 BP 2816 Abidjan 01 – Ivory Coast

Tel: (+225) 22 44 29 96 / 22 44 29 95 /22 44 29 94

Fax: (+225) 22 44 08 21

 

SODEMI issues an Attestation or Certificate of Conformity of Gold and a Provisional Certificate of Weight and Analysis. SODEMI issues a Certificate of Appraisal of Raw Gold which guarantees the quantity and quality of the gold to be exported. The costs inherent to this expertise are the following:

  • Quality and quantity control fees = 70 FCFA/g + VAT
  • Expenses for issuing the certificate of expertise of raw gold = 000 FCFA/g + VAT

 

Each bullion has a Certificate of Conformity (specifying the Title and the Weight)

 

  1. Gold Trade Authorization

STEP 1 – The Gold Trade Authorization Form – [Cf. Gold Trade Authorization Form] – is issued by the General Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounting of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The form must be completed and submitted to the Direction des Établissements de Crédit et des Finances Extérieures (FINEX), along with the following file in seven (7) copies (except for the copy of the Order):

  • Provisional Exchange Commitment.
  • Commercial Invoice (Final or Pro-forma).
  • Decree or Order granting Mining Export Authorization (Approval of Purchasing Offices or Industrial Gold Mining Permit).
  • Attestation of Compliance for gold (for Mining Permit holders).
  • Provisional Certificate (SGS or other) of Weight and Assay (for Mining Permit holders).
  • Casting Control Sheet.
  • Raw Gold Appraisal Certificate (for Buying Offices).

After reviewing the file, FINEX will endorse the Gold Trade Authorization Form.

Time to obtain the visa on the Gold Trade Authorization: 24 hours.

Validity of the visa: 3 months.

 

The file is to be obtained from the Direction des Établissements de Crédit et des Finances Extérieures (FINEX)

STEP 2 – The form duly signed by FINEX is to be deposited for examination and signature at the General Directorate of Mines and Geology (DGMG) of the Ministry of Mines and Geology, together with the complete file (this file is made up of the same file deposited beforehand at FINEX, i.e: the Authorization Form for Gold Trade signed by FINEX, the Exchange Commitment, the Commercial Invoice, the Casting Control Form signed by the Representative of the Ministry, the Provisional Certificate of Analysis and Weight).

After examining the file, the DGMG will give its visa on the Gold Trade Authorization Form.

Time limit for obtaining the visa on the Gold Trade Authorization: 24 hours at most.

 

  1. Exchange Commitment

The Exchange Commitment is a document necessary to validate the Customs Export Declaration.

The Exchange Commitment is done either through a manual procedure or through the Foreign Trade Single Window (GUCE).

 

GUCE procedure

The Exchange Undertaking – see Example EC – can be established online via the transactional site of the Guichet Unique du Commerce Extérieur (GUCE).

To access the site, you must first be registered as an importer, exporter or forwarder. The information to be provided is as follows:

  • Professional Exporter Code (or Occasional Exporter Code).
  • Name and address of the Declarant.
  • Invoice information (name of receiver, HS code of the goods, quantity, amount invoiced, etc.).
  • Name of the bank (in Ivory Coast) involved in the transaction.
  • The invoice.

 

TO NOTE

Beyond a value exceeding ten (10) million CFA francs, exports to countries outside the WAEMU are subject to direct debit with an Authorized Intermediary – Cf. Art. 13, WAEMU Regulation 09/2010/CM.

The exporter is then required to establish an Exchange Commitment and an Export Certificate. These documents are necessary to validate the Customs Export Declaration.

 

IV-List of products

SH Code

Designation

71.08.131.000

Raw Gold