Community preferential tax - CPT
This mechanism ensures the free movement of goods originating in the WAEMU without the payment of customs duties and taxes of equivalent effect on importation into the WAEMU space (this exemption does not apply to Value Added Tax (VAT) and other internal taxes).
The CPT is open to any company that is located and operates in one of the eight (8) WAEMU Member States, and that intends to export its products meeting the origin criteria to the WAEMU area.
The following groups of products benefit from the CPT, provided they originate from the WAEMU region
- Agricultural and livestock products.
- Products from sea, river or lake fishing.
- Mining products
- Approved industrial products (conforming to WAEMU rules of origin).
In order to circulate free of charge in the region, a WAEMU certificate of origin (CPT) must accompany the product for each shipment, except for the products included in the limited list below:
- Agricultural and livestock products (an appropriate sanitary or phytosanitary certificate must be obtained in the country of origin for agricultural and livestock products).
- Articles made by hand, with or without the aid of tools, instruments or devices operated directly by the manufacturer.
The rules of origin underlying this concept are defined in the Additional Protocol N° III/2001 of 19 December 2001 in the case of UEMOA [UEMOA PA III.2001] relating to the definition of the concept of products originating from WAEMU Member States. It defines an industrial product originating from ECOWAS if the product complies with at least one of the following rules :
- Rule 1
- Rule 2
- Rule 3
Wholly obtained products
Change of tariff heading
Goods that are not fully processed but whose production requires the use of materials that will be classified under a different tariff subheading than the product.
(Each product can be classified according to a list developed by the World Customs Organisation (HS Tariff Classification). The list consists of the following breakdown of figures: – “Chapters”- 2 digits, – “Headings”- 4 digits and – “Subheadings”- 6 digits. If the finished product requires the exclusive use of materials which are classified under a tariff heading other than that of the finished product, it may be traded duty free. This rule is accompanied by a list of exceptions indicating the cases in which the change of heading is not decisive or imposing additional conditions).
pas déterminant ou imposant des conditions supplémentaires.)
Value added test
Goods which are not fully processed but whose production requires the use of materials which have undergone an added value of at least 30% of the ex-factory price of the finished products.
If the raw materials have an added value of at least 30% of the ex-factory cost price of the finished products, the goods are considered as originating products and can be traded duty free within the area.
The application of the preferential regime linked to the origin of the goods results in (1) the granting of approval to the products, (2) the issue of a certificate of origin (3) as well as the possibility of identifying the products by a marking procedure.
- Approval
Products recognised as originating and approved benefit from the Community Preferential Tax (CPT) by decision of the Commission after advice from WAEMU experts.
- The Certificate of Origin
This is a commercial document which attests and constitutes irrefutable proof of the community origin of a shipment of intra-community goods. It is issued by the Ministries in charge of Industry and Mines (see Chapter 1 Certificates of Origin).
- Marking
For the purposes of identifying products approved for the CPT, the marking of goods is required whenever technically possible. The characteristics of this marking are then communicated to the control authorities in order to facilitate the identification of approved products.