Cameroon has an open economy and seeks to apply best international practices and standards amidst national and regional standards. As a CEMAC member, the country abides by all regional treaties introduced by the organization. The country signed an interim economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union on 15 January 2009, which also imposed European standards on exchange of goods. On paper, Cameroon has good laws aligned with most international regulations and norms. However, the country still demonstrates significant enforcement lapses in its legal system.
Standards
Cameroon’s Standards and Quality Agency (ANOR) was created in September 2009 and became operational in 2011. ANOR is in charge of standardization, conformity assessment, certification, and training and promotion of standards. It represents Cameroon in international standards organizations. Cameroon currently has 4,500 building construction norms. These norms encompass areas such as building materials that are expected to ensure security and durability of buildings. ANOR is developing norms and standards in other economic sectors.
Testing, Inspection and Certification
SGS inspection is an important part of the import procedure. The inspection process may be initiated by the exporter at the country of supply or by the importer in Cameroon. If the importer initiates the process with the “Déclaration d’Importation,” the SGS liaison office in Cameroon will transmit all the submitted documents by the importer to the corresponding SGS affiliate at the country of supply for that office’s representatives to contact and coordinate engagement with the exporter, and if needed, any request for missing documents. If the exporter initiates the process, he/she must submit the following documents to SGS:
-Request for Certification
-PROFORMA Invoice
-Quality Management System Certification
-Conformity Documents (test reports, quality certificates, analysis reports, etc…)
-Final invoice
To prove that all requirements are met in the applicable standards or technical regulations, goods must undergo one or a combination of the following verification processes:
-Physical inspection
-Laboratory analysis
-Factory audit
-Documentary verification
After the verification process is completed and results are deemed satisfactory, the exporter must submit the Final Invoice for the issuance of the “Attestation de Conformité (AC),” which will be converted into a “Certificate of Conformity (CoC)” by ANOR.
Contact Information
The Standards Attaché for this region is Michael Bromley in Johannesburg, Michael.Bromley@trade.gov.
Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.
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Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life. Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.