Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Waiver Certificate Requirement

Cargo transported to Côte d'Ivoire (also known as the Ivory Coast) requires a cargo tracking note

Waiver Control:

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) implements Cargo Tracking Note (CTN)/ Bordereau de Suivi de Cargaison (BSC) for all imports. It is essential that cargo tracking notes must be handled in the country of loading.

As of 1st May 2005 the Office Ivoirien Des Chargeurs (OIC) has made available to all shippers and forwarding agents an internet application form available here: www.oic.ci.

The system will enable the economic operators to create and manage their Cargo Tracking Note (CTN)/ Bordereau de Suivi de Cargaison (BSC) online. This new system will remove the need for OIC representatives to intervene at the cargo loading port. It also now allows for the Exporter or Forwarding Agent to create the BSC from their office according to the following procedure:

  1. Registration of Member
  2. Validation of Member’s Account
  3. Provisioning of Member’s Account
  4. Registration of the BSC online
  5. Submission of the registered BSC for validation
  6. Validation of the BSC submitted by the Member
  7. Printing of the BSC by the Member concerned with the corresponding transaction

Pre-Shipment Inspection Instructions:

  1. All imports to Ivory Coast must be subject to BIVAC control Pre-Shipment Inspection during stuffing at port of loading (POL)
  2. This control is requested by the cargo not the Line, to the inspection representative
  3. The BIVAC inspected must attend the stuffing of the container from beginning to end (FCL Container), if the shipment is an LCL container shipment then each exporter must request individual inspector for their own cargo
  4. Exemptions are as follows:
    • Personal effects
    • Fruit/ vegetable/ plants
    • Donation/ charity goods
    • Containers transhipping through Abidjan
    • Any container with FOB commercial value of cargo below CFA500,000 (USD800 TEU)
    • Empty containers
  5. After inspection a certificate is remitted by the Inspection to the Shipper and a BIVAC Seal is placed on to the shipping container
  6. This certificate is requested by Customs to the importer to clear the cargo
  7. If the container does not have the certificate or seal then the container will be automatically inspected in Abidjan Port by a BIVAC representative under customs control. All costs will be the responsibility of the consignee. This post control will affect the flow on containers at Discharge Port (POD)
  8. If the consignee is not able to to request post control then the cargo will be seized by Customs after 20 days. The cargo will then be sold at auction after 3 months, according to port regulations with customs
  9. The shipping agent is authorised to exchange the Bill of Lading against delivery order to the consignee, even if the consignee doesn’t have a BIVAC certificate in hand. The agent is not responsible for any lack of BIVAC certificate
  10. Regulation in force as of the 1st June 2003

Goods Exempted from Pre-Shipment Inspection:

  • Containerised products exempt; Food products (e.g. salt, juices and drinks, dairy and milk products, preserved/ semi-preserved products, rice and flour, meat, frozen and deep frozen fish), pharmaceutical products, roofing plates, electrical devices
  • Precious stones and gold
  • Objects of art
  • Imports with a FOB value equal or below XOF 500,000
  • Scrap metals
  • Live animals
  • Goods imported on a non-commercial and non-repetitive basis, for a personal use and whose value does not exceed XOF 3,000,000
  • Explosives, weapons, ammunition and other materials for the Army and the Police
  • Plants and Flowers
  • Fish, Vegetables and fruits fresh or refrigerated (neither frozen or deep frozen)
  • Used vehicles
  • Used personal and household effects
  • Cinematographic films, exposed and developed
  • Post parcels
  • Personal gifts
  • Donations offered by foreign governments or international organisations to the government, to foundations, to charities and to philanthropic organisations recognised as being helpful towards to public
  • Imports for diplomatic entities and for United Nations organisations for their own use within Ivory Coast
  • Crude oil
  • Commercial samples
  • Current newspaper and periodicals, postal and fiscal stamps, stamped papers, passports, bank notes and cheque books

Additional Pre-Shipment Inspection Information:

  1. Initial request is applied to consignee who fills in a Import Request Form (FRI Form) in Abidjan, along with the pro-forma invoice sent by the shipper.
  2. The Import Request Form (FRI Form) is sent by the BIVAC representative in Abidjan to the BIVAC representative in the Port of Loading (POL) (BV Regional Center). At the same time, the consignee sends a copy to the supplier.
  3. The BV Regional Center has the duty to contact the shipper to inform him about their responsibility to carry out a visit to inspect the loading of all containers at a date requested by the shipper.
  4. After loading the Import Request Form number (supplied by BIVAC Abidjan) must be mentioned in the body of the Bill of Lading (BOL). The BIVAC seal number and Import Request Form number must be mentioned on the certificate issues and supplied by BIVAC Port of Loading.
  5. If several invoices are used for the same container, several Import Request Form (FRI) numbers are needed (1 FRI = 1 pro-forma invoice). Now 1 invoice can be split for several shipments; then the same FRI number will be used until completion full export regarding this very invoice is valid for 6 months max to export all concerned cargo related to that same FRI number.
  6. If there is no Import Request Form (FRI) issued prior to shipment then the container can only be imported in Abidjan, with * approval of the Minister of Commerce in Abidjan * and then the Customs of Ivory Coast.

Sensitive Goods Submitted to Pre-Shipment Inspection:

  • Food products (e.g. salt, juices and drinks, dairy and milk products, preserved/ semi-preserved products, rice and flour, meat, frozen and deep frozen fish)
  • Pharmaceutical products
  • Roofing plates
  • Electrical devices

Import Request Form (FRI or Fiches de Renseignement a l’Importation) Numbers:

According to Ivorian Customs regulations, importers are requested to mention on the Bill of Lading the Import Request Form numbers given by BIVAC or COTECNA inspection agencies.

Goods Prohibited from Import:

Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Africa

  • Weapons and war ammunition except collector’s items
  • Counterfeit goods
  • Drugs and narcotics
  • Hallucinogenic products except those authorised by the Ministry of Health
  • Pornographic publications
  • Products containing asbestos
  • Meat flour and bones from ruminants are forbidden for import in Ivory Coast
  • All beef and beef products from UK and Ireland
  • Plastic bags
  • Toxic waste
  • Zestril online in india