Eritrea
Eritrea Customs Contacts
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Address: P.O. Box 190, Asmara
Phone: +291 127 108/ 127 838
Fax: +291 123 788
Eritrea is a country situated in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti. The country is a member of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Customs Organization (WCO) and other international organizations.
Tariffs
Eritrea is a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and as a result applies the COMESA common external tariff (CET). The COMESA CET is based on a classification of goods with the following tariff rates:
- raw materials and capital goods - 0%
- intermediate goods - 10%
- finished goods - 25%
Sensitive products will be given differential treatment in terms of application of the CET.
Export and import procedure
As a first step to the long export process, an Eritrean exporter sends a proforma invoice to the target importer. The relevant Ministry then confirms the availability of the product to be exported before the exporter can give the final invoice to the importer.
The exporter then makes a contract agreement with the importer and thereafter opens a letter of credit with his/her bank using a copy of the proforma/final invoice. As a temporary measure, the exporter also deposits the equivalent of expected foreign exchange earnings to his/her bank.
Standards inspection is then undertaken by the Eritrean Standards institute; food/plant products are subject to a sanitary and phyto-sanitary inspection by Ministry of Agriculture.
For exports to COMESA, the Chamber of Commerce also issues the COMESA Certificate of Origin, after which the Ministry of Trade and Industry verifies all bank and other relevant documents before issuing an export permit.
All these documents are then taken to the customs office for final export clearance, after which the export consignment is transported to the importer.
All exports are required to have export permit.
Documents for import
- Bill of lading
- Cargo release order
- Certificate of origin
- Commercial invoice
- Consular invoice
- Customs import declaration
- Foreign exchange authorisation
- Import permit
- Packing list
- Pre-shipment inspection clean report of findings
- Technical standard/health certificate
- Terminal handling receipts
Sources:
http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/54c104dc4.pdf
http://www.countryaah.com/Eritrea_Import_Restrictions.html
http://web.ita.doc.gov/tacgi/OverSeasNew.nsf/alldata/Eritrea
