Central African Republic: Intra

Central African Republic: Intra-

Africa trade and tariff profile

No. 23 2018 TRADE DATA UPDATE

This Trade Data Update provides an overview of the Central African Republic’s (CAR’s) intra-African trade relationships, both within the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and with other individual African countries; the top import and export products traded; and applicable tariffs. Data is sourced from the UN International Trade Centre (ITC) TradeMap and World Trade Organisation (WTO) Tariff databases. The update is accompanied by a visual representation of key data and trends in an infographic.

Regional Economic Communities

The Central African Republic (CAR) belongs to three Regional Economic Communities (RECs) – the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

CEN-SAD currently has 24 member states (Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo and Tunisia) aspiring to the establishment of an Economic Union which includes the free movement of goods, services and commodities. In 2013 a revised CEN-SAD Treaty was approved, aimed at revitalising the region. The revised Treaty focuses on cooperation activities to foster peace, security and sustainable development and measures to adapt to climate change but has not yet entered into force, consequently there is currently no free trade agreement in place.

CEMAC has six member states (Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo and Equatorial Guinea) which are all part of the CEMAC free trade area with a common external tariff (CET) applied to trade from outside CEMAC and a zero-rated generalised preferential tariff applicable to intra-CEMAC trade.

The ECCAS member states are Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda and São Tomé and Principe. Although the legal instruments of the ECCAS Free Trade

Central African Republic: Intra-Africa trade and tariff profile Trade Data Update, Issue No. 23 | September 2018

Area (FTA) were signed in 2004 the FTA is not yet in force; only three of the member states (Cameroon, Congo and Gabon) have adopted the ECCAS Preferential Tariff for intra-ECCAS trade.

Intra-Africa trade

In 2017, CAR exported and imported goods to and from the rest of Africa to the value of US$30 million and US$77 million, respectively. Intra-Africa exports accounted for 15% of CAR’s total exports and imports for 19% of total imports for 2017.

Table 1: CAR’s intra-Africa export and import products (2017)

Intra-Africa export products Intra-Africa import products % total % total HS 2017 HS 2017 Product description intra-Africa Product description intra-Africa codes (US$m) codes (US$m) exports imports 8716 Trailers and semi-trailers 5.51 18.60% 2523 Cement 5.39 7.00% Electric generating sets and Tarpaulins, awnings and 8502 4.87 16.46% 6306 4.47 5.80% rotary converters sunblinds 8704 Goods vehicles 4.71 15.90% 2403 Manufactured tobacco 3.47 4.51% Soups and broths and 8609 Containers 4.66 15.74% 2104 3.28 4.26% preparations therefor Self-propelled construction Machines and mechanical 8429 2.60 8.80% 8479 3.18 4.13% machinery (bulldozers etc.) appliances Refrigerating or freezing Food preparations, not 8418 1.41 4.77% 2106 3.17 4.11% equipment elsewhere specified Tarpaulins, awnings and Meat of bovine animals, 6306 1.41 4.77% 0202 2.20 2.86% sunblinds frozen Motorised armoured fighting 8710 1.04 3.50% 0303 Frozen fish 2.08 2.70% vehicles Cane or beet sugar, in solid 6103 Men’s or boys’ suits 0.85 2.86% 1701 1.89 2.46% form 4403 Rough wood 0.66 2.23% 1006 Rice 1.62 2.10%

Source: ITC TradeMap (2018). tralac calculations

• CAR mainly exports transport equipment and machinery to the rest of Africa; 54% of intra-Africa exports are transport equipment (including trailers and semi-trailers, goods vehicles, containers and armoured fighting vehicles) and 31% are machinery (including generators, construction equipment and refrigeration and freezing equipment).

• Other intra-Africa export products are limited and include tarpaulins, awnings and tents; men’s and boy’s suits; rough and sawn wood; prepared fish and semi-manufactured gold. The top 10 export products account for 94% of CAR’s exports to the rest of Africa.

• Apart from cement; tarpaulins, awnings and tents; manufactured tobacco; and certain machines and mechanical appliances CAR mainly imports food products from the rest of Africa. These products include

Central African Republic: Intra-Africa trade and tariff profile Trade Data Update, Issue No. 23 | September 2018

soups and broths, food preparations, frozen beef and fish, sugar and rice. The top 10 import products account for 40% of CAR’s intra-African imports.

• CAR mainly trades with Cameroon and Benin; 67% of CAR’s total intra-African trade (exports + imports) are with these two countries – Cameroon as the main source country and Benin as the main destination.

• Other trading partners include Chad (8% of total trade), South Africa (5%) and Congo (4%).

• 92% of CAR’s intra-Africa exports are to Benin (63%) and Chad (29%). Other destination markets include Cameroon, Congo and Senegal.

• 66% of CAR’s intra-Africa imports are sourced from Cameroon. Other source countries include South Africa (7%), Senegal (5%) and Congo (5%).

Intra-Africa import tariffs

CAR is part of three RECs; however, the free-trade agreements of CEN-SAD and ECCAS are not yet in place. In terms of CEMAC, CAR levies the intra-CEMAC generalised preferential tariff on imports from other CEMAC members (duty-free) and the CEMAC CET on imports from outside the CEMAC region. The CEMAC CET is the MFN applied tariff of CAR. This means that goods imported from ECCAS and CEN-SAD member states which are not members of CEMAC (including Benin, Senegal, Mauritania and Ivory Coast) are levied the CEMAC CET.

The highest average ad valorem applied tariff is 30% and there are no specific duties. The 30% tariff is applicable to numerous tariff lines, including articles of clothing and apparel, headgear, umbrellas, meat and fish preparations, clocks and watches and cocoa and cocoa preparations.

Table 2: CAR’s imports from Africa excluding CEMAC countries

HS 2017 Product description Applicable tariff Code (US$m) 10% or 30% depending on the 240319 Smoking tobacco 3.47 national tariff line 630622 Tents of synthetic fibres 3.47 30%

847989 Machines and mechanical appliances, not elsewhere specified 3.03 10%

610990 T-shirts 1.13 30%

271320 Petroleum bitumen 1.03 10%

030371 Frozen sardines 0.75 20%

930690 Bombs and other ammunition and projectiles 0.71 30%

630619 Tarpaulins, awnings and sunblinds 0.70 30% Folding cartons, boxes and cases, of non-corrugated paper or 481920 0.56 10% paperboard Structures and parts of structures, of iron or steel, not elsewhere 730890 0.50 20% specified

Source: ITC TradeMap (2018) and WTO Tariff Database (2018)

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.