Investor Presentaiton
tralac
Central African Republic: Intra-Africa trade and tariff profile
Trade Data Update, Issue No. 23 | September 2018
A very limited number of goods are imported duty-free. At the HS6 level only 34 tariff lines are duty-free; the
majority of which relate to air transportation (aeroplanes, helicopters, gliders, spacecrafts and their parts) (HS12).
Other duty-free imports are printed materials (books, dictionaries, newspapers, musical manuscripts,
topographical maps and architectural drawings), apparel and clothing of fur skin (HS 430310) and wheat flour
(HS 11010010).
Apart from duty-free and 30%, the CEMAC CET has four additional tariff bands - 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%.
28% of CAR's intra-Africa imports are from countries outside CEMAC; 68% of which are imported from South
Africa, Senegal, Mauritania and Ivory Coast. The main import products are smoking tobacco, tents of synthetic
fibres, machines and mechanical appliances not elsewhere specified, t-shirts and petroleum bitumen. None of
the main import products are imported duty-free, on the contrary most are levied high import tariffs (either 20%
or 30%). Of the top 20 products imported into CAR, only herbicides are imported at the low tariff of 5%. A third
of the imports face 30% import duties and 5 tariff lines (frozen sardines, tuna and other fresh- and saltwater fish;
steel/iron structures; and sorting machinery) 20% import duties. The high import duties applicable to trade
between CAR and African countries outside CEMAC can be a contributing factor to the low levels of trade.View entire presentation