Fishery products and derivatives

Import procedure

I-INTRODUCTION

In accordance with Decree n˚93-312 of 11 March 1993 laying down the conditions for the exercise of professions relating to trade in animals, animal products and animal origin intended for human consumption, the exercise of the profession of importer of fishery products is subject to obtaining an Authorisation to Practice as an Importer of fishery products. This is issued to individuals and companies by the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (MIRAH) / Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS).

This prior authorisation should not be confused with the Preliminary Import Authorisation, which is also issued by the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (MIRAH) for each import operation of animal products or products of animal origin

It is also reminded that the import or export of any goods requires the prior obtaining of an importer/exporter code (professional or occasional) – See Legal Regimes for Imports – See General Import Procedures tab of the site.

The list of products concerned by this sheet can be found at the end of the page.

Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (MIRAH)

Abidjan – Plateau

Immeuble CAISTAB, 11th floor

BP V 84 – Côte d’Ivoire

Tel: (+225) 20 22 99 30 / (+225) 20 21 34 23

Website: www.ressourcesanimales.gouv.ci

 

Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS)

Sous-Direction de l’Hygiène et de la Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (SDHSSA)

Abidjan- Plateau

Cité administrative, Tower C, 11th floor

Tel: (+225) 20 21 89 72

 

Direction des Services Vétérinaires

Service d’Inspection et de Contrôle Sanitaires Vétérinaires en Frontières (in the customs offices at the borders including the port and airport)

 

II-AUTHORISATION TO IMPORT

The importation of fishery products is reserved for natural or legal persons who have an authorisation to practice the profession of fishery products importer issued by the Ministry of Animal and Fishery Resources (MIRAH) – see Decree n°93.312 of 11 March 1993.

  1. Procedure for issuing the authorisation

Decree n°93-312 of 11 March 1993 and Order n° 35 /MINAGRA/MIC/INT of 8 April 1993 set the conditions for the exercise of professions related to the Trade in Animals and Animal Products and Products of Animal Origin (DAOA).

 

The issuance of the Authorisation for the exercise of professions related to the trade of animals, animal products and animal origin (DAOA) intended for human consumption is carried out after submission and examination of a file to the attention of the Direction of Veterinary Services (DVS) of the Ministry of Animal and Fishery Resources.

 

This authorisation is issued by an interministerial commission chaired by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and SME Promotion.

 

The list of authorised companies is published annually by Inter-ministerial Order.

 

  1. Documents to be provided

For a first application

 

The list of documents is as follows:

 

  • Handwritten application (to the attention of the President of the Commission d’Agrément – Cf. Decree n°93-312 of 11 March 1993 – District of Abidjan.
  • Certificate of identity (Identity Card or Residence Card) valid.
  • Extract from the Criminal Record dated less than three (3) months (Court of the place of residence, Ministries of Foreign Affairs for foreign nationals).
  • Extract from the Trade Register bearing a mention relating to the profession applied for.
  • Certificate of location of the place of practice (Town Hall of the Commune concerned).
  • Certificate of visit and counter visit with chest X-ray of the manager (Public Hospitals).
  • 4 identity photos of the manager (Applicant).
  • List of employees (Applicant).
  • Certificate of Visit and Re-visit and chest X-ray of employees (Public Hospitals).
  • Certified copy of diploma (optional).
  • File of the person in charge / manager of the Company including all the above mentioned documents (Applicant).
  • Declaration of Tax Existence (tax office of your municipality).
  • Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (Veterinary Inspection Service).
  • Identification form of the economic operator (Direction des Services Vétérinaires)
  • Receipt of payment of application fees (Direction des Services Vétérinaires).

The deadline for issuing the authorisation is: 2 commissions per year are organised

The period of validity of the authorization: is 1 year

 

For a renewal of the authorization

 

The list of documents is as follows:

 

  • Handwritten application (to the attention of the President of the Approval Commission – Decree n°93-312 of 11 March 1993 – Abidjan District (Applicant).
  • Certificate of identity (identity card or residence permit) in the course of validity.
  • Certificate of Location of the place of practice (Town Hall of the Commune concerned).
  • Certificate of Visit and Counter Visit with chest X-ray of the manager (Public Hospitals).
  • Certified copy of the Patent for the previous year (Taxes-Town Hall (for certification)).
  • Copy of the Professional Card (Applicant).
  • List of employees (Applicant).
  • Certificate of Visit and Counter Visit and chest X-ray of employees (Public Hospitals).
  • File of the person in charge / guarantor of the company including all the above mentioned documents (Applicant).
  • Declaration of Fiscal Existence (tax office of your municipality).
  • Certificate of Non-bankruptcy (Commercial Court of Abidjan).
  • Attestation of Fiscal Regularity (Tax Centre of your Commune).
  • Certificate of Veterinary Inspection of the company’s premises (Veterinary Inspection Service, DVS).
  • Identification form of the economic operator (DVS).
  • Receipt of payment of application fees (DVS).

The deadline for issuing the authorisation is: 2 commissions per year are organised.

The period of validity of the authorisation is: 1 year.

III-DOCUMENTS

  1. Import Declaration Form (IDF)

The Import Declaration Form (IDF) – see Example of IDF – is compulsory if the value of the goods exceeds five hundred thousand (500,000) F CFA,

The IDF is established online via the transactional site of the Guichet Unique du Commerce Extérieur (GUCE). Access to the site requires prior registration as an importer, exporter or forwarder. The documents and information to be provided are as follows

  • Importer Code (or Occasional Importer Code).
  • Invoice (Pro-forma or Final).
  • Mode of transport.
  • Name of the importer’s bank (in Côte d’Ivoire) (for direct debit and exchange authorisation).
  • HS Codes of the products to be imported.

For the importation of the products listed below, the IDF application will only be validated after receipt of the Preliminary Import Authorisation (PIA) – see PIA procedure below – see General Import Procedures tab of the website – in the online file, validated, endorsed and signed by the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries.

 

  1. Prior Authorisation for Importation (PAI)

Pending a fully dematerialised procedure, this procedure is currently carried out, initially online, and then continued manually.

 

The Preliminary Import Authorisation (PIA) is necessary to obtain the Import Declaration Form (IDF) – see Example of    IDF.

The API is valid for 6 months and is linked to the operation for which the request was made.

 

Online procedure

 

The application for a Preliminary Import Authorisation is submitted online on the electronic platform of the Guichet Unique pour le Commerce Extérieur (GUCE) by economic operators or their forwarding agents. The API will also be issued online at the end of the procedure. However, it will be necessary to present the physical file to the relevant Ministry in order to pay the fees for the issuance of the API.

 

Start the Import Declaration Form (IDF) procedure on the GUCE website – see IDF procedure above – see General Import Procedures tab on the website.

The system automatically generates a Preliminary Import Authorisation (PIA) request on the GUCE platform, which is intended for the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries, which will validate it online, after physical examination of the file and payment of the API fee to the Ministry. The documents to be downloaded are:

 

  • The invoice (Pro-forma or Definitive)

The agents of the Sub-Directorate of Food Hygiene and Safety (SDHSSA) will validate the API online after payment and physical reception of the file.

 

 

Manual procedure

The importer then goes to the Sub-Directorate of Food Hygiene and Safety (SDHSSA) of the Veterinary Services Department (DSV) of the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries to submit the file (IDF number, copy of the invoice – pro forma or final – and the business card) and pay the PIA.

 

The transaction cost of the API is: 5,000 F CFA / 25 Tons or per Container

 

The agents of the Sub-Directorate of Food Hygiene and Sanitary Safety (SDHSSA) of the Veterinary Services Directorate examine the file and validate the API online (Validation between 2 and 72 hours after the physical submission of the file to the Ministry).

  1. Cargo Tracking Form (CTF) procedure

For all imports by sea, the exporter, the foreign forwarder and the importer must register the cargo Tracking Form (CTF) via the website of the Office Ivoirien des Chargeurs (OIC).

 

Upon shipment

 

Registration of the CTF (see General Import Procedures tab of the website). The documents required are the following:

 

  • Final Invoice.
  • Bill of lading (B/L).
  • Packing List.
  • Customs Export Declaration of the country of shipment.
  • Certificate of local insurance in Ivory Coast.
  • The Import Declaration Form (IDF) or its number.
  • In addition, for imports from countries outside the European Union, the following are required:
    • The Freight Invoice.
    • The Certificate of Origin.

 

 

  1. Certificate of Value

 

As soon as the goods are shipped and all the transport documents for the goods are available (Final Commercial Invoice, Ocean Bill of Lading or Air Waybill, Packing List, Freight Invoice, copy of the IDF and all other available certificates), the freight forwarder must initiate a request for a Certificate of Value.

All goods with an FOB value greater than or equal to one (1) million CFA francs must obtain a Final Classification and Value Report (FCVR) from the Directorate of Risk Analysis, Intelligence and Value (DARRV) of the Customs via the electronic platform of the GUCE – Cf. Customs Circular n°2007 of 29 March 2019.

The authorised forwarder downloads and fills in the Notice of Deposit (ND).

He attaches the documents accompanying the goods (see list above) to the deposit notice and uploads the entire file online on the GUCE platform.

The Directorate of Risk, Intelligence and Value Analysis (DARRV) of the Customs Department checks the shipping documents and delivers within 5 working days following the submission of the documents the Final Classification and Value Report by e-mail to the consignee or the freight forwarder.

 

The freight forwarder completes Form D41 (Sampling Permit: this is an authorisation given by the importer or freight forwarder to Customs to take a sample of the goods for the purposes of quality control or to visually assess the apparent condition of the goods) and physically deposits it with the transport documents (see list above) at the Risk Analysis, Intelligence and Value Division (DARRV) at Customs for verification.

 

After examining the file, the DARRV issues the Attestation of Verification (AV).

 

Goods with an FOB value of less than one (1) million CFA francs and certain other products – see the list of goods not subject to FCVR on the websites www.douane.ci – are exempt from the FCVR procedure – see the General Import Procedure of the website.

 

IV-AUTHORISATIONS AND CERTIFICATES TO REMOVE THE GOODS

The authorisations and certificates mentioned below are issued by the MIRAH Border Veterinary Inspection and Control Service, which is part of the Directorate of Veterinary Services, and is hosted by the Phytosanitary Service of the Customs office concerned.

 

Prior to the submission of the Import Declaration for customs clearance of the file, the forwarder must submit the file to the office of the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Phytosanitary Service of the Customs office to obtain a Sanitary Pass.

 

The Health Certificate and the Inspection Attestation are also documents to be presented to Customs in order to take delivery of the imported goods.

 

These documents are necessary to receive the Bon à Enlever(BAE) from Customs and take delivery of the imported goods.

  1. Sanitary Pass

The Sanitary Pass gives permission for animal and animal products to enter Côte d’Ivoire subject to the issuance of a Health Certificate. The necessary documents are the following:

  • Customs declaration.
  •  
  • Certificate of Origin from the country of origin (photocopy).
  • Sanitary certificate from the country of origin (original).
  • Preliminary Import Authorisation (PIA).
  • Import Declaration Form (IDF).
  • Transport document: Bill of Lading (B/L) or Air Waybill (AWB) or Consignment note.
  • Cargo Tracking Form (if by sea).
  • Certificate of Insurance of the goods.

 

  • The cost[1] is :
    • Frozen or fresh fish: 4 francs per Kg
    • Canned fish: 5 francs per Kg

 

  1. Health certificate

 

The Health Certificate is issued after physical examination of the goods by an inspector from the MIRAH Border Veterinary Inspection and Control Service.

 

If there is a problem, the Service d’Inspection et de Contrôle Sanitaires Vétérinaires en Frontières requests analyses to be carried out at the importer’s expense.

 

The Health Certificate authorises the release for sale or consumption of a product declared fit for human consumption or a product that complies with the quality standards required for import.

It is coupled with the issuance of the Sanitary Pass.

Its issuance is free of charge.

The documents to be presented for the issuance of a Health Certificate are the following:

 

  • Customs declaration.
  •  
  • Transport document: Bill of Lading (B/L) or Air Waybill (AWB) or Consignment note.
  • Certificate of Health of the country of origin.
  • Certificate of origin (photocopy).
  • Preliminary Import Authorisation (PIA).
  • Test results (if tests have been requested).
  • Inspection Report (Inspection Report of the physical control of the goods).

 

  1. Veterinary Inspection Certificate

If the examination of the file and the physical inspection of the goods show that the goods meet the quality criteria of the Ivorian standards, the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Phytosanitary Service issues a Veterinary Inspection Certificate.

The Veterinary Inspection Certificate authorises the entry of the products into the country.

Cost: CFA F 5,000 per certificate

The documents to be presented are the following:

 

  • Customs declaration.
  •  
  • Transport title: Bill of Lading (B/L) or Air Waybill (AWB) or Consignment note.
  • Certificate of Health of the country of origin.
  • Côte d’Ivoire health certificate.
  • Additional certificates (no encephalitis – no dioxin – no radioactivity).
  • Certificate of Origin (photocopy).
  • Preliminary Import Authorisation (API).
  • Test results (if tests have been requested).
  • Inspection report (Inspection report of the physical control of the goods).

 

  1. Customs Declaration

On arrival

 

The Customs declaration is made by a forwarder appointed by the importer and approved by Customs.

 

The forwarder submits the declaration in the Customs computer system – SYDAM (Sydonia World). The documents to be submitted to the freight forwarder to make the Customs declaration are the following:

  • Original Bill of Lading (B/L) for sea shipments, or Air Waybill (AWB) for air shipments or Consignment note for road shipments.
  • Original supplier’s invoice.
  • Certificate of Insurance.
  • Import Form (IDF) – via the GUCE website.
  • Freight Invoice.
  • Final Classification and Value Report (FCVR) if the FOB value is at least one (1) million F CFA (or the Attestation of Value (AV) if the FOB value is less than one (1) million F CFA, or if the goods are excluded from the FCVR – see List of goods not subject to the FCVR on the websites douane.ci and www.webbfontaine.ci.
  • The Packing List.
  • The Customs receipt if the method of payment of duties and taxes is cash.
  • The Cargo Tracking Form (CTF) issued by the Ivorian Shippers’ Office (OIC) for transport by sea.
  • The WAEMU or ECOWAS Certificate of Origin if required.
  • The Certificate of Origin of the exporting country.
  • A Quality Certificate issued by a recognised international organisation, before shipment of the products.
  • A Health Certificate from the country of shipment.
  • The Bon à Enlever (BAE) from the Customs will be issued after examination of the file by the Customs and the obtaining of :

 

  • the Veterinary Inspection Certificate, signed by the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Border Veterinary Inspection and Control Service – part of the Veterinary Services Directorate of the MIRAH – of the Customs office concerned,
  • the Sanitary Pass, and
  • the Health Certificate issued after a possible physical control of the imported goods.

 

V-OTHER CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY MIRAH

 

These documents may be required in addition to the usual documentation, depending on the case.

 

  1. Sampling Report

 

The Procès-Verbal d’Echantillonnage is issued by the Direction des Services Vétérinaires / Service d’Inspection et de Contrôle Sanitaires Vétérinaires en Frontières and allows to prove that a product has been taken for analysis.

Cost: Free of charge

Its application must be accompanied by the following documents:

 

  • Packing list.
  • Customs declaration.
  • Certificate of Health of the country of origin (original).
  • Certificate of Origin (photocopy).

 

  1. Certificate of Consignment

 

The Certificate of Consignment is issued by the Border Veterinary Inspection and Control Service and serves as proof that a product is consigned and should not be sold pending a verdict of release or destruction.

Cost: Free of charge.

List of documents required for the issuance of the document:

 

  • Packing list.
  • Customs declaration.
  • Laboratory analysis results.
  • Sampling report.

 

  1. Certificate of release from detention

 

The Certificate of Clearance is issued by the Border Veterinary Inspection and Control Service.

After having consigned a doubtful product that is found to be safe, the agent of the Inspection Service carries out the release of the consignment in order to make the product available to the operator.

Cost: Free of charge.

List of documents required for the issuance of the document: Laboratory analysis results

 

 

  1. Certificate of Seizure

 

The Certificate of Seizure attests that the product has been effectively seized. It is useful for the importer to assert his rights with the supplier.

Cost: Free of charge.

List of documents required for the issuance of the document: The report of the structure in charge of the destruction.

 

  1. Destruction report

 

The Destruction Report concerns all animal and animal products (DAOA) and attests that the product has been effectively destroyed. It is useful for the importer to assert his rights with the supplier.

It is issued free of charge.

List of documents required for the issue of the document: the report of the structure in charge of the destruction.

 

VI-LIST OF PRODUCTS

 

SH Code

Designation

02

Fish and crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic invertebrates.

16

Preparations of meat, fish or crustaceans, mollusks or other aquatic invertebrates.