Republic of the Congo takes a step forward towards an advance rulings system

Within the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme), funded by the European Union, a workshop on advance rulings for classification, origin and Customs valuation was held in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, from 4 to 8 July 2022. The activity was facilitated by two WCO accredited experts from the Cameroonian administration and the French administration. The workshop brought together nineteen participants including officials from the Congolese Customs administration as well as private sector actors.

The purpose of this mission was to prepare for the establishment of an advance rulings' mechanism in the Republic of the Congo. During the first day of the workshop, an assessment concerning the work on advance rulings in the country was established, on the basis of the diagnostic tool developed by the WCO. Thereafter, participants developed and finalized a draft national legislation on advance rulings, as well as a work plan for the implementation of the advance rulings programme.

At the end of the workshop, taking into account the progress achieved and the forthcoming publication of a Ministerial Order establishing an advance rulings system, the Congolese Customs Administration notified the WCO Secretary General of the acceptance of the WCO Recommendation of 18 June 1996 on the introduction of programmes for binding pre-entry classification information.

In his closing remarks at the end of the workshop, Mr. Aristide Sidoine ALEBA, Director of the Legislation and Litigation Department, on behalf of the Director General of the Congo Customs, Mr. Guénolé MBONGO KOUMOU expressed his gratitude to the WCO and the European Union for the support provided to the Republic of the Congo in the implementation of an advance rulings system. He expressed his determination to complete the process of implementing the advance rulings mechanism soon, in collaboration with the HS-Africa Programme.

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