WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 28
III. ANALYSIS OF TRADE POLICY INSTRUMENTS
(1) INTRODUCTION
1. The reforms introduced by Togo since the end of the 1980s have helped substantially to
liberalize foreign trade operation and to abolish certain monopolies.  The quantitative restrictions on
imports, apart from prohibitions arising from the application of international conventions and those
maintained for reasons of health and security, have been eliminated.  However, the importation ofpotatoes may be prohibited from August to February if domestic supply covers requirements and a
prior authorization is required to import gold.  A programme of import inspection is in force;  since
1995, its execution has been entrusted to COTECNA.  Togo has also abolished the restrictions on the
exportation of most products.  Phosphate is the sole product for which an export licence is needed.
Nevertheless, the exports of foodstuffs can be temporarily suspended in case of shortage.  Moreover,State companies have monopolies on the supply of certain services (e.g. public services), and the
production and/or marketing of certain products (e.g. phosphates and cotton).
2. Except for the taxes collected on re-export, export duties and taxes have been abolished.
Import duties have been considerably simplified;  their simple arithmetic mean (excluding community
levies and tax for the protection and maintenance of infrastructures) is 19.5 per cent, with a maximumrate of 23 per cent.  Narrowly dispersed, import duties present a generally negative escalation from
semi-finished goods to finished products (Table III.1).  There are customs and tax advantages in place
to correct the consequences of the structure of dut ies, particularly with respect to the performance of
exporting enterprises.  The entry into force of the WAEMU Common External Tariff could increase
both the nominal protection and the effective rates of protection in Togo, through the increase in
import duties and the strengthening of their positive escalation.
3. Togo has no legislation in respect of anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures.
Being several decades old, trade legislation, where it exists, is no longer in keeping with the economic
environment which has resulted from several years of reform.  The Treaty of the African Intellectual
Property Organization (AIPO) , of which Togo is a member, is being amended so as to bring it into
line with the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(one of the Agreements resulting from the Uruguay Round).  The lack of resources and ofcoordination at the national level would appear to be among the handicaps to the effective protection
of intellectual property rights in Togo.
Table III.1
Customs tariff according to degree of processing, March 1998
ProductsaNumber of
linesAverage Minimum rate Maximum rate Standard
deviationCoefficient of
variation
Raw materials 713 14.8 3 23 7.5 0.51
Semi-finished products 1,768 21.0 3 23 5.1 0.25
Finished products 3,126 19.7 3 23 6.3 0.32
Total 5,607 19.5 3 23 6.4 0.33
aInternational Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 2.
Source:  WTO Secretariat calculations, based on data supplied by the Togolese authorities.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 29
(2) MEASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING IMPORTS
(i) Registration and documents
4. To import goods for commercial purposes, it is necessary to have obtained an installation
licence (valid for five years) from the Ministry of Commerce, be inscribed in the trade register and
hold an importer's card delivered by the same Ministry.  In order to simplify administrative
formalities, the importer/exporter's card and that issued by the National Shippers Council werecombined (in 1990) into the importer/exporter's and shipper's card, valid for one year and renewable
three months before its expiry date.
1
5. The card certifies that an economic operator is registered with the Ministry of Commerce, the
Trade Tribunal and the Directorate-General of Customs and that he is officially entitled to exercise
that profession.  The card bears a serial number;  in Togo, there is still no single identity card for allthe administrative departments.  Economic operators without the card are regarded as informal and
listed as "occasionals";  their imports are subjected, when transferred to domestic use, to a down
payment on the taxation of business profits (BIC) of 5 per cent of the c.i.f. value increased by the
import duties, so as to encourage them to register (Section (ii)(a)).  The relative importance of transit
operations and the fact that they are essentially carried out by occasionals (Table III.2) indicate thatthe local informal trade is largely fed by false tran sit (goods declared to be in transit and then made
fraudulently available for consumption on the national territory).
Table III.2
Imports by "occasionals", according to the main customs regimes, 1997(Values in billions of CFA francs and shares in %)
Total customs value Customs value imported by
"occasionals"Share of the "occasionals"
Transfer to domestic use 203.6 20.0 9.8
Transit 189.3 149.3 78.9
Temporary importation 4.9 1.2 24.5
Warehousing 68.7 0.6 0.9
Source:  Togolese authorities.
6. The costs of the various formalities are:  a CFAF 500 stamp and a CFAF 15,000 levy for
nationals and citizens of the ECOWAS countries, CFAF 20,000 for others, for the installation licence;
a charge of CFAF 9,000 for institutions and CFAF 13,750 for companies, and a single duty of
CFAF 32,500 for inscription in the trade register and the Chamber of Commerce;  a CFAF 500 stampand a charge of CFAF 45,000 for nationals and citizens of the ECOWAS countries, and CFAF 75,000
for non-citizens, to obtain the importer/exporter's and shipper's card.
7. The formalities take three to six months.  The economic operators find the length of these
time-frames deplorable, particularly in the case of foreigners.  They would like to see the
establishment of a single window and a reform of the regulatory framework for foreign trade, the
instruments of which are obsolete.
(ii) Inspection, customs valuation and customs clearance
8. A first programme of imports inspection was set up in Togo in 1990 and entrusted to the
Société générale de surveillance (SGS).  It was abandoned after six months of operation.  Since
                                                     
1 The conditions for obtaining this card were set out by Interministerial Decree No. 25/MIC/MEF of
5 November 1996.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 30
1 February 1995, another programme of import inspection has been entrusted to the COTECNA
company.  Prior to every import of a f.o.b. value exceeding CFAF 1.5 million for goods arriving by
air or sea, and CFAF 1 million for goods arriving by land, the importer must complete an Intention to
Import form and submit it to the COTECNA liaison office at Lomé, at least 15 days before the
loading date.2 COTECNA must examine the goods within a period of seven working days from the
date of receipt of the request for inspection.  After the physical inspection and monitoring of prices inthe country of dispatch, COTECNA issues either a certificate of inspection (ADV) or a notice of
refusal to certify (ARA).  There is no mini mum time-limit imposed on the inspecting company to
issue these documents and make them available to the importers.  The original of the ADV is attached
to the other documents required by the bank for the payment of the foreign exporter and a copy is
needed to clear the goods through customs.
9. The cost of the preshipment inspection by COTECNA is 1 per cent of the f.o.b. value of the
goods examined, with a minimum payment of CFAF  80,000 per inspection operation.  This minimum
corresponds to the cost of inspecting CFAF 8 million worth of goods, or between five and eight times
the minimum levels beyond which the inspection is required.  In 1997, the total cost of this company's
operations amounted to CFAF 1.2 billion, borne entirely by the Togolese State.
10. The definition of customs value used in Togo is the Brussels definition of value (BDV)
(Article 19 of the Customs Code);  it corresponds to the "normal" price of the goods, i.e. the price
which, it is considered, these goods would have been able to fetch in the place and at the time they are
declared, on full competition terms, between a buyer and seller who are independent.  In accordance
with the provisions of Article 20 (special and differential treatment) of the Agreement on
Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, Togo has
postponed the changeover to the transaction value.  According to the authorities, the transaction value
will be applied as from the year 2000, i.e. at the end of the period granted to the developing countries
through the said treatment.
11. The customs are not bound, when calculating duties and taxes, to accept the value certified by
COTECNA, which they regard as an indicative value.  The customs verify the declared values by
using the value index, established with the assistance of COTECNA and made available to thecontrollers, and by referring to the prices on the domestic market (after deduction of import duties and
taxes and various costs) or to world prices.  No reference price is applied in Togo for customs
evaluations.  A mixed COTECNA/Customs Commi ssion meets twice a month for the purpose of
consideration and consultation.  In the event of a (very rare) appeal by importers, it could be seized of
the matter.  Electronic exchanges of value data also take place between the Directorate-General ofCustoms and COTECNA.
12. The documents required for customs clearance are the supplier's invoice, the freight invoice,
the ADV, the certificate of origin, the air consignment note and the bill of lading.  Customs
declarations are computerized, on the basis of the Automatic System for Customs Data Entry(ASYCUDA)
3, in three offices:  the port, the airport and the petroleum products office, which cover
                                                     
2 The following goods are exempted from COTECNA inspection:  imports under the transit and
temporary importation regime, live animals, plants, mineral waters, cinematographic films, newspapers, booksand brochures, cartographic works, fabrics, personal effect s, used vehicles, gifts, works of art, chilled products,
commercial samples, arms, goods forming the subject of international invitations to tender, secondary metals,
explosives, personal presents, postal parcels, goods originating from ECOWAS, gold and precious metals,hydrocarbons and petroleum products, and goods imported by diplomatic missions and internationalorganizations.
3 ASYCUDA, version 2.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 31
80 per cent of the traffic.  A plan to modernize the computerization of customs data is currently being
studied for the purpose of improving the present system and, in particular, of including the
Directorate-General and the various offices in the network.  The official duration of customs clearance
formalities is 48 hours, from the date the declaration is registered.
13. The main breaches of customs regulations relate to customs value (70 per cent of the cases),
mainly undervaluation.  Fraud in respect of quantity represents 15 per cent of the cases and fraudconcerning the nature of the goods 10 per cent.  The other infractions (5 per cent) consist of false
declarations of origin.  The main products which are smuggled into the country are the major
consumer goods:  rice, sugar and flour.  The informal trade is also fed by goods officially imported in
transit by unregistered importers and fraudulently transferred to domestic use within the customs
territory (Table III.2).
(iii) Import duties
14. Togo grants at least the most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment to all countries.  The MFN
import duty consists of a fiscal import duty (DFE), a statistical tax (TS), a tax for the protection and
maintenance of the infrastructure (TPI), and community levies collected on behalf of WAEMU (PCS)
and ECOWAS (PC).  Domestic taxes (VAT and excise taxes) are also levied on imports by thecustoms cordon.  The import duties (apart from the customs stamp) are based on the c.i.f. value while
the basis of the domestic taxes is the same value increased by the import duties (Table III.3).  In 1990,
Togo adopted the Harmonized System Nomenclature (HS), version 96 of which it has been applying
since 1 January 1998.
15. The tariff reform begun in 1995 has simplified the structure of the import duties and reduced
the highest rates.  Thus, apart from the TPI, most import duties are ad valorem ;  the road fund tax,
initially collected on petroleum products, has been combined with the other duties and the marketprice values have been abandoned.  However, the average level of protection in Togo could be
increased as the result of the introduction of the WAEMU Common External Tariff (CET).WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 32
Table III.3
Import duties and domestic taxes on imports collected by the customsa, March 1998
Nature of the import
duties and taxesCoverage Tax base Rates Changes since 1990
Import fiscal duty (DFE) Imports:  some products are
exempt (medicines, forinstance);C.i.f. value 3 rates:  5%, 10%
and 20%0% rate on a
single product:
wax fabric (asensitive product)5 rates before the Finance Act
No. 95-011 of 10 March 1995:0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 35%
with Finance Act No. 95-011:
4 rates.  Since 1997: 3 rates
Statistical tax (TS) All imports even those
exempted, including
diplomatic privileges (apartfrom Germany, USA,
France)C.i.f. value 3%
--
Infrastructure protection
and maintenance tax
(TPI)All imports, including those
exempted and diplomatic
privileges (except Germany,
USA and France)Specific tax:
F 2000/tonne
Not completely
budgetized (80%+ 20% for local
collectivites)-
Customs stamp (TD) Imports.
Only if exempted from DFE
in the tariffTaxes previously
paid in the absence
of the DFE
(TSE + TPI = base)4%
-
Valued Added Tax
(VAT)Import and internal
consumption;  some
products are exempt(agricultural inputs, for
instance).C.i.f. value +
upstream duties and
taxes18% TGA before the Finance Act of
1995 with 4 rates:  0%, 5%, 14%
and 30%.  The Finance Act of1995 established the VAT with
3 rates:  0%, 7% and 18%.  1997
Unification of Rates FinanceAct:  18% and 0%  for
exemptions.
Down payment on
business profits (BIC)
and corporate tax (IS)Imports C.i.f. value +
upstream duties and
taxes1% for registered
persons and 5%
for othersFor the account of the DGI, but
collected by the customs
Community solidaritylevy (PCS)Imports from outside
WAEMUC.i.f. value 0.5% -
Community levy (PC) Imports from outside
ECOWASC.i.f. value 0.5% -
aThe tax on the consumption of petroleum products and the down payments at the customs cordon on various taxes have not been
presented here.
Source:  Togolese authorities.
(a) Nature and level of MFN duties
16. Import duties consist of the DFE at 5, 10 and 20 per cent, the TS at the single rate of 3 per
cent, the TPI at CFAF 2,000 per tonne and the PCS and PC, at 0.5 per cent each, levied for the
accounts of WAEMU and ECOWAS respectively.  For taxation purposes, imported products, apart
from the "wax" fabric and petroleum products, are di vided into three categories corresponding to the
different rates of the DFE.  Staple products, raw materials and equipment goods are taxed at a DFErate of 5 per cent;  intermediate products and inputs at a rate of 10 per cent;  and final consumer goods
at a rate of 20 per cent.
17. In 1997, 70 per cent of imports belonged to the category of final consumer goods, 7 per cent
being classified in the category of inputs and intermediate products and 19 per cent in the category of
raw materials and equipment goods.  The DFE was not collected (zero rate or exemption) on 4 perTogo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 33
cent of imports;  various live animals and medicines, dressings, certain books, natural gas, and
liquified propane and butane are exempted from the DFE.  In the case of petroleum products other
than lubricants, the DFE is replaced by a specific tax which is presented in Table III.4.
Table III.4
Specific tax on petroleum products, 1997
Product Specific tax Ad valorem equivalent
Petrol CFAF 1,900/hl. 18%
Diesel oil CFAF 700/hl. 7.3%
Paraffin CFAF 150/hl. 1.6%
High-octane petrol CFAF 1,900/hl. 21.4%
Source:  Togolese authorities (Directorate-General of Customs).
18. The simple arithmetic average of import duties (excluding PC, PCS and TPI), calculated on
the 5,607 lines (of eight HS digits) included in the tariff in force in March 1998, is 19.5 per cent with
a minimum of 3 per cent and a maximum of 23 pe r cent.  The comparison of the average rates of
import duties by type of industry shows that th ey are usually higher on products which are also
manufactured locally;  import duties are sometimes relatively low on products without substitutes or
equivalents manufactured in Togo.  For this last category of products, the tariff structure is designedto exploit more effectively (competitively) the transit facilities offered by Togo's geographical
position.  This is so in the case of tobacco and certain alcohols, which are taxed at 8 per cent, and of
wax fabric taxed at 3 per cent.  The type of goods most heavily protected are fishing products,
tobaccos, clothing, footwear, leather articles and pl astic products;  mining products, printed matter
and non-electrical machines are taxed the lowest.  Import duties have a narrow dispersion:  thecoefficient of variation is 0.33 and indicates that, in general, there is little difference between
categories of product (Chart III.1).
19. In 1997, Togo's total imports covered 47 per cent of the tariff lines;  the average import duty
weighted by the value of imports was 18.8 per cent.  The rate of recovery of import duties, i.e. total
receipts collected solely as import duties in percentage of the value of imports, was 10.2 per cent.
20. Import duties present a negative escalation, from semi-finished to finished products
(Chart III.2).  There is a negative escalation except in the case of wood products, petroleum and coal,
glass and glassware, iron and steel products and non-ferrous metals, on which the entry duties do
escalate (Table A III.1).WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 34
0510152025
Percentage
111
121-122
130210-290311-312
313
314321322-324
331-332
341342351-352
353-354
355356361-369
371
372381382
383
384385
390Agricultural and livestock production
Forestry and forestry operators
FishingMiningFoodstuffs
Beverages
TobaccoTextilesClothing, leather articles and footwear
Wood and wood 
products
Paper productsPrintingChemicals including pharmaceuticals
Petoleum products
Rubber productsPlastic productsPottery and china, glass and other non-metallic mineral products
Iron and steel
Non-ferrous metalsMetal productsNon-electric machinery
Electric machinery
Transport equipmentProfessional and scientific instrumentsOther manufactures
a
Source
:International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 2.
WTO Secretariat calculations based on data su pplied b y the To golese authorities.Chart III.1
Average import duties (excluding PC, PCS and TPI) by category of goodsa, excluding 
petroleum products, March 1998Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 35
0510152025Chart III.2
Average tariff according to degree of processinga, March 1998
a
Source :Percentage
Raw materialsSemi-finished productsFinished productsAll products
TotalManufacturing industriesMining and quarrying Agriculture
International Standard Industrial Classification (ICIC), revision 2.
WTO Secretariat based on data provided by the T ogolese authorities
(b) Other duties and taxes
21. The general business tax (TGA) with four rates (0, 5, 14 and 30 per cent) was replaced by a
VAT with three rates (0, 7 and 18 per cent) in 1995.  Since 1997, the VAT rates have been merged
into a single rate of 18 per cent.  Various items are exempted from VAT, mainly medicines andmedical equipment and agricultural and fisheries inputs.  Imports by embassies and international
organizations are exempted from VAT, provided there is reciprocity on the part of the countries
concerned.  Moreover, VAT is not collected on imports carried out by operators not engaged in that
activity (import) for purposes of profit.  The basis of  the VAT for imports is th e c.i.f. value, increased
by the import duties;  consumption or excise taxes are not included in the VAT base.
22. Table III.5 presents the specific duties (consumption taxes) levied on imports of certain
products;  these taxes sometimes vary according to the origin of the products.  Thus, mineral waters
originating from a country member of ECOWAS are not subjected to these taxes, while those from a
third country are taxed at CFAF 10 per bottle;  local beers are taxed at CFAF 5 per bottle, against
CFAF 10 on imported ones.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 36
Table III.5
Consumption taxes, March 1998
Product Tax collected
Mineral waters or natural spring waters, except those originating
from one of the States members of ECOWAS;F 10 per bottle whatever the capacity
Natural or artificial sparkling waters, other than those originating
from one of the States members of ECOWAS;F 10 per bottle whatever the capacity
Lemonades and flavoured sparkling waters and other non-alcoholic
drinks, excluding fruit and vegetable juices;F 10 per bottle whatever the capacity
Wines and sparkling wines, other than reinforced wines and similar
products, cider, perry, mead and other fermented drinks:
- In bottles, carafes, plastic jugs or similar containers with a
capacity not greater than 1 litre;
- in contents with a capacity greater than a litre;F 50 per bottle whatever the capacity
F 50 per litre and part of litre
Champagne (controlled appellation); F 250 per bottle
Fortified and similar wines, vermouths and other wines made from
fresh grapes, flavoured with herbs, and all other alcoholic drinks:
- In bottles, carafes, flasks and jugs or similar containers with
a capacity of not more than 1 litre;
- in containers with a capacity exceeding 1litre;
- in so-called "miniature" containers;F 125  per bottle or other container
F 125  per litre or part of litre
F 25  per container
Locally manufactured beers:
- In bottles or other containers with a capacity of not more
than 1litre;
- in containers with a capacity of more than 1 litre;F 5 per bottle or other container
F 5 per litre
Imported beers
- In bottles or other containers with a capacity of not more
than 1 litre;
 - in containers with a capacity exceeding 1 litreF 10  per litre
F 10  per litre
Tobaccos:
- Cigarettes presented for sale in cardboard, iron, wood or
plastic packaging whatever the number of cigarettes, up to
20, contained therein;
- More than 20:
- cigarillos;
- cigars;
- tobacco in a packet or in a box, whatever the nature of the
container to smoke, chew or sniff:
- par packet up to 50 grammes;
- par packet of more than 50 grammes;
- tobacco in bulk, for smoking , chewing or sniffing;F 20 per packet or other container
F 20 per 20 or fraction of 20
F 10 per unit
F 20 per unit
F 60
F 60 per 50 grammes or part of 50 grammes
F 60 per 100 grammes and part of 100 grammes
Flour, fine flour and semolinas of wheat or rye; F 5 F per kg.
Edible oils and fats of animal or vegetable origin, consumable as
they stand, including margarines;F 10 per litre or per kg.
Cements; F 200 a tonne
Industrial gas F 50 F per cubic metre
Source: Togolese authorities, General Taxation Code .
23. A tax on the consumption of petroleum products (TCPP), in an amount of CFAF 50  per litre,
is payable on all petroleum products except paraffin for domestic use (which is exempted).  The
amount of this tax is distributed in the followin g ways:  CFAF 30 for the general budget, CFAF 15 for
the road maintenance fund and CFAF 5 for the Stabilization of the Prices of Petroleum Products Fund.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 37
24. A down payment on business profits and on the corporate tax is levied on importation.  This
down payment, which is collected by the customs on behalf of the Directorate-General of Taxation, is
1 per cent for registered importers and 5 per cent for non-registered importers.  Its base is the same as
that of the VAT, i.e. the c.i.f.  value increased by the import duties (Table III.3).  The aim of the
down-payment system is to induce the informal importers to become registered, since the down
payments are not recoverable.
(c) Binding of duties and taxes
25. Like the other Members of WTO, Togo has bound, within the framework of the
Uruguay Round, the import duties and taxes on agri cultural products (Annex 1 to the Agreement on
Agriculture).  Togo has bound these duties at the ceiling rate of 80 per cent.  Other duties and taxes
have also been bound:  the statistical tax at the rate of 3 per cent, the toll on sea cargo in an amount ofCFAF 200 per tonne and the customs stamp on the taxes collected at the rate of 4 per cent, where the
product enters with exemption from the DFE.
26. Import duties and other duties and taxes on the products of HS Chapters 43 (furskins and
artificial fur), 75 (nickel and articles thereof) and 78 (lead and articles thereof) have been bound at the
same rates as the agricultural products.  Togo had not mentioned, in the number of other duties andtaxes that it had bound, the TPI of CFAF 2,000, currently collected on imports.  With the installation
of the CET, the WAEMU Commission intends to renegotiate the tariff concessions of all its member
States.
(d) Tariff preferences
27. The ECOWAS trade liberalization scheme (Chapter  II.5(ii)(b)) consists in principle of two
main components:  the elimination, as of 1994, of all non-tariff barriers on all products originating in
the ECOWAS countries and the gradual reduction of intra-community tariff barriers.  In accordancewith the ECOWAS agreements, since 1 January 1990, local products and traditional handicrafts
should circulate free of all import duties, provided they appear on the list of products recognized by
the Community and are accompanied by a certificate of origin issued by the competent body
appointed by the exporting country.  Finished manufactured goods originating in the Community are
entitled to tariff reductions based on a number of different criteria, including the level of industrialdevelopment of the countries and the problems of island and land-locked countries.  For Togo, the
complete tariff reduction period has been set at eight years, with a rate of reduction of 12.5 per cent
per year (Chapter II.5(ii)(b)).  In practice, many tariff and non-tariff barriers still remain;  the
timetable for the liberalization of intra-community trade has not been respected.
28. In accordance with the WAEMU agreements, local products and traditional handicrafts
originating from the Union are exempted from all import duties in Togo;  certified industrial products
subject to the preferential community tax (TPC) benefit from a reduction of 60 per cent on import
duties and taxes.
4 At the end of 1977, 544 products belonging to 151 WAEMU industrial enterprises
had been certified.5  As of March 1998, five Togolese enterprises had obtained certification for
14 products (Table III.6).  Manufactured goods not certified under the TPC enjoy a reduction of 5 percent (Chapter II.5(ii)(c))
                                                     
4 Until June 1997, certified manufactured products under the TCP benefited from a reduction of 30 per
cent of import duties and taxes.  The certification is issued by a WAEMU Commission.
5 The certified products nevertheless represented only 4 per cent of all intra-community trade in
industrial products in 1996.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 38
Table III.6
Togolese industrial products certified under the TPCa, March 1998
Name of the enterprise WAEMU nomenclature
of the productDenominated Certification number Condition of
certification
Industrie Togolaise des
plastiques (ITP)39172110
39172120
3917231039172320Rigid polymer tubes and
pipes for mains00307
00314
0004700048
Decision
-  No. 4/96/COM/WAEMUof 14.05.96VA≥58,39%
VA≥50,32%
VA≥50,32%
VA≥50,32%
39231000 Boxes, cases, racks and
similar articles00155
Decision
-  No. 4/96/COM/WAEMU
of 14.05.96VA≥49,64%
39239000 Other plastic transport or
packing articles00365
Decision
-  No. 4/96/COM/WAEMUof 14.05.96VA≥49,65%
39249010 Plastic bowls and buckets 00155
Decision-  No. 4/96/COM/WAEMU
of 14.05.96VA≥49,01%
FAN MILK 04031010 Natural yoghurt 00454
Decision
-  No. 4/96/COM/WAEMU
of 14.05.96VA≥57,07%
21050000 Ice-cream 00195
Decision
-  No. 4/96/COM/WAEMUof 14.05.96VA≥67,53%
04031020 Yoghurt with added fruit 00454
Decision-  No. 4/96/COM/WAEMU
of 14.05.96VA≥67,07%
04031090 Other yoghurts 00454
Decision
 -  No. 2/97 COM/WAEMUof 27-03-97VA≥67,07%
CIMENTS DU TOGO 25232900 Other Portland cements 403
Decision-  No. 8/96/COM/WAEMU
of 14.05.96VA≥41,08%
LUDO-SA 19021900 Pasta 0009
Decision
-  No. 2/97 COM/WAEMU
of 27-03-97VA≥60,40%
AMEX FIELDS TOGO
STELL72142000 Iron bars and non-alloyed
steels0355
Decision
-  No. 2/97 COM/WAEMUof 27-03-97VA≥47,44%
aTPC = Preferential Community Tax.
Source: WAEMU Commission.
29. Togo also gives tariff preferences on imports from countries with which it has signed bilateral
trade agreements.  Information on these countries and on the preferences accorded is not available.
(e) Tariff and tax exemptions
30. The proportion of imports exempted (in whole or in part) has been reduced from 36.4 per cent
in 1994 to 21.8 per cent in 1997 (Table III.7).  In 1994, the totally exempted imports represented
59 per cent of all exempted imports and 21.5 per cent of the total value of products imported forTogo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 39
domestic use.  Since 1996, all imports, even those that are exempted from certain import duties, are
subjected to the TS, the TPI and the customs stamp or to the cumulation of TS and the TPI.6
Table III.7
Proportion of exempted imports in the total cleared for domestic use, 1994-1997
(percentage)
1994 1995 1996 1997
Partly exempted imports 14.8 17.3 23.2 21.8
Completely exempted imports 21.6 18.6 3.3 0.0
Exempted imports 36.4 35.9 26.5 21.8
Source: Togolese authorities.
31. In 1997, more than half the exemptions stemmed from the application of special agreements
signed between the Togolese State and certain enterprises.  At present, there are seven enterprises
which benefit from advantages of this type as against 21 in 1995.  The main enterprises under this
regime are:  SGMT, TOGOTEX, SINTO and SALT.  The last special agreements will expire in 2002.
Exemptions granted under the Investment Code represented 3.8 per cent of all exempted imports in
19977, as against 50.1 per cent for exemptions under special long-term agreements (Table III.8).  Free
zone enterprises are also exempted from import duties and taxes and from the VAT on some of their
imports (Section 3(vi)).
Table III.8
Distribution of exempted imports by categories, 1997
(Percentage)
Category of exemption Proportion
Diplomatic privileges 7.1%
Investment Code 3.8%
Special long-term agreements 50.1%
Foreign NGOs 1.7%
National NGOs 2.9%
Technical assistance 2.0%
Government/procurement 2.4%
Grants and assistance to the State 29.0%
Other exemptions 1.0%
TOTAL 100.0%
Source: Togolese authorities.
(iv) Rules of origin
32. According to Article 18 of the Customs Code, th e country of origin of a product is that in
which it has been harvested, extracted from the soil or manufactured.  The Article provides that orders
by the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs would establish the rules to be followed to
determine the origin of the products harvested, extracted from the soil or manufactured in one countryand subsequently processed in another country, as well as the cases in which justifications of origin
will be required.  As at the end of November 1998 these orders had not been issued.
                                                     
6 Only imports by certain diplomatic missions and enterprises having the status of the free zone for
export processing are exempted from the TS.
7 The fact that the WAEMU Community Investment Code is imminent and the preference of investors
for the free zone regime explain the relatively small share of exemptions under the Investment Code.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 40
33.  Rules of origin exist, for preferential treatm ent purposes, in the trade agreements to which
Togo is a signatory.  In the framework of the Lomé Convention, complete processing (goods entirely
produced on the spot) or adequate processing (change of tariff position) of a product confers upon it
as place of origin the ACP country in which the processing took place.  The rules of origin in the
context of ECOWAS and WAEMU are based on the pe rcentages of local inputs used or on the
percentage of national value added in the finished product (Chapter II.5).  New rules of origin basedon the provisions of the WTO Agreement should enter into force in WAEMU in the year 2000.
(v) Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures
34. Togo has no national legislation regarding anti-dumping, countervailing or safeguard
measures.  Furthermore, Togo has not applied any of these measures.
(vi) Prohibitions, quantitative restrictions and licensing
35. The dismantling of quantitative restrictions on, licences for and prohibitions of imports,
begun in 1989 within the framework of the structural adjustment programmes, was completed in 1995
by the abolition of the last of these measures on wheat flour, cement, concrete-reinforcing bars and
galvanized sheet.  The restrictions currently in fo rce are retained for reasons of health, security or
morals and concern products such as arms and ammunition, explosives and military equipment,narcotic drugs and certain pharmaceutical products such as psychotropic drugs.  Nevertheless, imports
of potatoes can be prohibited, from August to February, when local production covers local demand.
8
The importation of gold requires prior authorization by the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.
36. Within the framework of the imports inspection programme, execution of which was
entrusted to the COTECNA company in 1995, the importer must, for every import consignment of a
f.o.b. value exceeding CFAF 1.5 million in the case of those arriving by air or sea and CFAF 1 million
in the case of those arriving by land, complete an Intention to Import form and lodge it with theCOTECNA office at Lomé, at least 15 days befo re the goods are shipped (Section 2(ii)).  The
Intention to Import form is essential for the issue of the certificate of inspection.
37. A global Intention to Export can be opened to cover several import operations.  Imports
exempted from preshipment inspection are not subjected to the Intention to Import procedure.  The
COTECNA procedures connected with the In tention to Import take about two weeks.
(vii) Standards and ecological and other technical requirements
(a) Standards, testing and certification
38. Established in 1983, the High Standardization Council (CNS) is an interministerial and
professional organ, presided over by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, which is responsible for
establishing and applying national policy in the matter.  Nine technical committees
9 are responsible
for preparing Togolese standards, which can be optional or compulsory.  When the standard is
optional, the approval order is signed by the Minister of Industry and Commerce.  When it is
                                                     
8 IMF (1997).
9 These committees are active in the areas of the f undamental standards:  agriculture and foodstuffs,
town planning, architecture and civil engineering, mechanical engineering and metal working, chemistry andchemical engineering, technical and electro-technical engineering, textiles and clothing industries, transport and
communications, protection of the environment and pollu tion control.  The committ ees prepare, in their
respective areas of competence, draft standards which are transmitted to the CNS for adoption.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 41
compulsory, the order is signed jointly by the Minister of Industry and Commerce and the technical
minister concerned.
39. Togo possesses 45 national standards, all of which have been approved.  The products
currently subject to these standards are water, bu ilding materials (e.g. stabilized clay bricks) and
tinned foods.  Nine draft standards on agricultural products are currently under consideration.
According to the authorities, all these standards are based on regional or international provisions.
Togolese standards and regulations do not distinguish between imported products and national
products, unless there is some specific characteristic at the level of the product concerned.  A draft
certification structure is under consideration.  Togo does not yet test products.  However, private
operators commission inspection companies to carry out tests.  Spot checks are carried out on
foodstuffs.  The tests carried out in the exporting countries are recognized in Togo.  Nevertheless, inthe case of "sensitive" products (e.g. edible oils), the tests carried out abroad may be checked.
40. At the moment, Togolese firms use international standards, chiefly those established by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO ), the Codex Alimentarius of WMO and FAO, or
foreign standards such as those of the Associatio n française de normalisation (AFNOR), with a view
to marketing their products abroad.
41. In accordance with the provisions of Ordinance No. 17 on the publishing of prices, labels
should make it possible to check competitiveness.  To this end, they must indicate the sale price.  The
new Competition Act should strengthen the provisions in force (Section 4(iii)).
42. Packaging requirements apply only to exports:  jute sacks tared at 60 kg. net for coffee; jute
sacks tared at 70 kg. net for cocoa;  packaging in polypropylene or polyethylene with an allowance for
tare of 200 to 250 kg. per bale for cotton;  and packaging in jute or polypropylene for other products
such as shea almonds and cashew nuts.  These requirements are compulsory for the packaging of cashcrop products.  In principle, marking and packaging are supervised but, in practice, inspection is
systematic only in the case of the products covered by agreements (coffee and cocoa).  A bag of
coffee must be marked clearly and indelibly with  the identification codes, the corporate name or
acronym of the exporter, a letter indicating the grading factory, the nature of the product and the
producer country, the variety of the coffee (R for Robusta and A for Arabica), the quality indicated bya number of discs from 2 to 5 (5 for Extra-prima quality), the grain size indicated by a roman figure
and the ICO code, the code of the port of shipment and the serial number of the certificate of origin.
A sack of cocoa must show the exporter's corporate name or acronym, the nature of the product and
the name of the producer country, an indication of the crop (RP for récolte principale(main crop)  and
RI for récolte intermédiare (intermediate crop) ) and the quality indicated by a number of discs, (1 for
superior quality and 2 for normal quality).  In the case of imports, there is a legal vacuum which will
perhaps, be filled by the bill currently under discussion in the Assembly (bill concerning the control of
foodstuffs and defining the conditions for the processing and packaging of these products).
(b) Sanitary and phytosanitary regulations and environment protection measures
43. Togo has no national sanitary regulations applied to imported goods.  Some legal texts
containing phytosanitary provisions have recently been adopted
10, and others are being prepared.  Up
to March 1998, products imported into Togo were not systematically inspected;  some occasional
inspections were carried out to check the use-by date s but, because of the legal vacuum in the matter,
they have been ineffective.  However, a certificate of origin is required for the import of cattle.  A
food hygiene laboratory has been set up to test meat products, but it is not yet operational.
                                                     
10 In particular, Act No. 965-007/PR of 3 July 1996 on the protection of plants.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 42
44. Togo adopted environmental regulations in November 198811, which declared to be of general
interest:  the preservation of the environment, the maintenance or restoration of the resources which
nature offers to human life, the prevention or limitation of activities likely to degrade the environment
and jeopardize the health of persons or their goods and repairing or compensating for the damage
done to the environment.  Togo is a member of the International Tropical Timber Organization
(ITTO) and of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES).
45. An Interministerial Environment Commission is responsible for coordinating State actions on
environmental matters, both technical and legal.  An Environment Intervention Fund is designed to
finance operations to restore the environment and to control pollution.  The Fund's resources come
from State grants, from the proceeds of taxes allocated to the Fund, from the proceeds of fines andconfiscations for infringements and from the financial assistance provided by institutions of
international cooperation or any other institutions (acting on behalf of the environment).
12  Lastly, a
National Environment Committee is responsible for giving opinions on any environmental matter
submitted to it by the supervising Minister.  As of March 1998, there was no environmental standard
in force in Togo and no legal text to apply the provisions had been adopted.
(viii) Government procurement
46. Togo is not a signatory to the plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement negotiated
during the Uruguay Round.  Government procurement procedures are defined by the Code
promulgated in 199313 and by Decree No. 94-039/PR of 10 June 1994.  The Government Procurement
Code is administered by the National Procurement Commission, made up of an official appointed by
the Prime Minister (Chairman of the Commission), four representatives of the Minister of Finance
and Economic Affairs, two representatives of the Mi nister of Public Works, one representative of the
Minister of Planning, one representative of the Minister of Commerce, one representative of the
Minister of State-owned enterprises and three representatives of the Chamber of Commerce,
Agriculture and Industry of Togo.  The Committee for the Study and Control of Procurement Projects
is responsible for monitoring the contracts awarded by the National Commission.  It is made up of one
representative of the Minister of Planning (Chairman of the Committee), one representative of theNational Procurement Commission, three representatives of the Minister of Finance and Economic
Affairs, one representative of the Minister of Public Works and, in an advisory capacity, one
representative of the Minister concerned by the contract.
14
47. A government contract is compulsory for all expenditure on works, supplies or services
exceeding CFAF 15 million, whether the orders come from the State, from local authorities or fromgovernmental corporations, including State-owned companies
15;  parastatals are excluded from the
application of the Government Procurement Code.  For contracts between CFAF 15 and 50 million, at
least five entrepreneurs or suppliers of services must be consulted in writing.  In this case, the contract
is signed either by the Minister of Planning, if the purchases are financed by grants, or by the Minister
of Finance and Economic Affairs, if the financing is based on loans.  In all other cases, it is the PrimeMinister who signs the contracts.
                                                     
11 Act No. 88-14 of 3 November 1988.
12 As at November 1998 the Environment Intervention Fund was not operational.
13 Ordinance No. 93-006 of 4 August 1993.
14 The Commission on the investigation and officialization of prices also has a part to play in the
control of procurement and the execution of public contracts.
15 Reforms in progress should decentralize government procurement and revise the thresholds.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 43
48. Contracts may be concluded as a result either of open or restricted auctioning16, open or
restricted tendering or negotiation.  A report of the official responsible for the contract, forwarded to
the contract drafting unit set up in each ministry, states the reasons for choosing the method of
concluding the contract adopted;  the Governme nt Procurement Code does not lay down a specific
method for particular purchases or situations.  Workers' production cooperatives, Togolese SMEs,
groupings of agricultural producers and Togolese craftsmen and craftsmen's societies can benefit froma preferential margin, prices being equal or tenders equivalent, when a public contract is being
allocated.  When a public contract is divided into lots, at least one quarter of these lots must be
reserved for such natural or juridical persons.  Na tional enterprises, with a majority shareholding by
Togolese citizens, benefit from a bonus of 7 per cent of the total points specified for the technical
document.  When the labour employed is mainly Togolese, the enterprises benefit from a bonus of 7.5per cent of the maximum specified for the financial document.  Lastly, when a public contract is
allocated to a foreign enterprise, the latter has to subcontract at least 30 per cent of it to a Togolese
enterprise.
49. Public contracts are concluded on the basis of expenditure (all tax included) and are not
exempted from any taxes.  Since 1 January 1993, public contracts financed from abroad come underthe standard taxation rules.  They are, in principle, subject to all the taxes, duties and levies payable
on the type of service rendered.  However, foreign donors do not pay the indirect taxes which are
borne by the Togolese State through a budget credit mechanism (Treasury cheque).
17
(ix) Local content requirements
50. Some specific advantages are provided for by Article 17 of the Investment Code in favour of
enterprises processing raw materials and intermediate products of Togolese origin which represent in
value terms at least 60 per cent of the total purchases of such matters and products entering into theirmanufacture.  These advantages include complete exemption from the IMF for seven years.  In
addition, the use of local raw materials is one of the criteria of eligibility for the free zone regime.
(x) Other measures
51. According to the authorities, there is no curr ent official counter-trade agreement or other
agreement designed to influence the quantity or value of goods and services exported to Togo.
18
Moreover, the authorities have no knowledge of an y such agreements between Togolese enterprises
and foreign ones.  What is more, the WTO Secretariat is not aware of any measure applied by Togo
for balance-of-payments reasons.
52. Togo participates in the international trade sanctions decided upon by the United Nations
Security Council or by the regional institutions of which it is a member.
(3) MEASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING EXPORTS
(i) Regulations
53. To carry out export operations for commercial ends, the operators have to be in possession of
an importer/exporter's and shipper's card, the methods of obtaining which have been described above.
Every export operation in an amount exceeding CFAF 500,000 is subject to the constitution of a
                                                     
16 The amounts of contracts awarded by auctioni ng have annually exceeded CFAF 8 billio n since 1995.
17 This preferential treatment does not apply to NGOs or to the subcontractors of the main contracting
enterprise.
18 Counter-trade arrangements once existed between Togo and India and China.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 44
domiciliation file with an authorized bank.  Export receipts must be repatriated in their totality and
converted into CFA francs within a period of 180 days (Annex I.1).
54. Exports to countries giving preferential treatment to Togolese products must be accompanied
by a certificate of origin.  This certificate, issued by the Directorate of Foreign Trade for exports to
ECOWAS, Europe and other developed countries, a nd by the Directorate of Industrial Development
for exports to WAEMU countries, is stamped by the Directorate of Customs in the outgoing offices.
(ii) Export duties and taxes
55. Nowadays, there are no longer any export duties and taxes in Togo.  The export tax on
phosphates, of CFAF 1,000 per tonne, has been abolished and replaced by the mining royalty fixed
and collected by the Directorate of Mines.  Taxes on coffee, cocoa and cotton formerly existed but
they were never applied.
56. The special transit tax, abolished in 1995, has been replaced by the special re-export tax
(TSR), at a rate of 1 per cent on rice and sugar and 4 per cent on other products;  vehicles are exempt.
In practice, no taxes levied on transit operations to the land-locked countries of the Sahel;  in the case
of other countries, only the TSE, TPI and TD are collected.
(iii) Prohibitions, licences and other measures restricting exports
57. Before the trade liberalization undertaken in 1988, every export operation required prior
authorization.  Since that date, export licences have  been gradually abolished:  for industrial products
in 1988;  for cereals and foodstuffs in 1992 and for cash crop products in 1996, at the same time as the
monopoly for exporting these products held by the Togo Agricultural Products Office (OPAT).  The
methods of collecting and exporting coffee, cocoa and cotton were fixed by Ministerial Order in June
1996.  A coordinating committee registers the applicants who submit a file proving that they meet
certain conditions (tax certificate, regularity of structural implantation).  The operators are alsorequired to have their products inspected in order to obtain a certificate of quality.
58. The export of local food products can be temporarily suspended in case of shortage.  In
addition, the marketing, including the export, of mineral products is subjected to an authorization
delivered by the Minister of Mines.
19  However, in the case of metals and precious stones,
authorization is granted by a decree of the Council of Ministers.  Any application for authorization formarketing is currently subject to the payment, to  the Public Treasury, of the sum of  CFAF 150,000 
prior to the examination of the application.
59. The export of phosphates is subject to a licence issued by the Ministry of Commerce, within a
maximum period of 48 hours after the submission of a complete file.  It is valid for three months
starting from the date of issue.  In actual fact, only the Togolese Phosphates Office exports thisproduct.
(iv) Export subsidies
60. Enterprises approved under the Investment Code which export a portion of their production
(Table II.1) are exempted on a portion of their profits (for calculating the corporate tax (IS)) and on a
portion of their turnover (for the calculation of the minimum formula tax (IMF)).  This is equal to the
                                                     
19 The owners of mining titles are exempted from this author ization for minerals that th ey exploit within the areas
of their titles.  In addition, the authorization is not required of persons who purchase minerals  for purposes of processing or
of dealers in semi-finished or finished goods using these minerals.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 45
proportion of the turnover exported in the course of a financial year as compared with the global
turnover without the VAT.  The portion must not, however, exceed 75 per cent of the global turnover.
(v) Duty and tax concessions
61. Exports of tangible personal property and the rendering of services directly connected
therewith, are exempted from the VAT (Article 311 bis of the General Taxation Code).  In fact,
exports are subjected to zero rates in terms of the deduction of the VAT on the inputs which affect thecost of the chargeable operations (Article 324).  However, though exempted from the VAT under
Article 311, banking and financial operations are subjected to the tax on financial activities (TAF),
insurance operations to the insurance tax and transport operations to the tax on road carriers' income
(IRTR) which constitute definitive costs (since they are not deductible) and weighing inter alia  on the
cost of exporting.
62. Chapters 6 and 7 of the Customs Code lay down the operating methods for certain special
regimes (temporary import for processing and drawback) designed to encourage export activities;  the
length of the procedures needed to take advantage of these has so far discouraged the economic
operators.  Of all the customs regimes intended to encourage export activities, the free zone is the only
one that is actively used today (Section (vi)).
(vi) Advantages connected with the free zone regime
63. The conditions of eligibility for free zone status (Chapter II.4(iii)) are the same for national
and foreign investors.  There are two conditions that have to be met in order to obtain approval:
guaranteeing to export the entire production, subject to the possibility of selling not more than 20 per
cent in the national customs territory, and reservin g the permanent jobs for nationals as a matter of
priority.  The application for approval has to be drawn up on a form supplied by the Society for the
Administration of the Free Zones (SAZOF) at a co st of CFAF 10,000.  The application is examined
by a Standing Committee of Exporting Enterprises;  a provisional exporting enterprise certificate is
issued by order of the Minister of Industry with in two working days.  The enterprise then has a
maximum deadline of six months to begin its activities.  The approved enterprises benefit from the
services of SAZOF which acts as a single window for all their administrative approaches.  The law
provides for a charge for these services, but it is not collected.
64. The enterprises with free zone status have some tax and customs advantages, the most
important which are summarized in Table II.2:  duty-free treatment or partial exemption;  exemption
from the IS for the first ten years and stabilization at the rate of 15 per cent from the eleventh year
onwards;  stabilization of the tax on payroll at a rate of 2 per cent;  exemption for ten years from the
tax on personal incomes (i.e. dividends) when the beneficiary is not of Togolese nationality;  andexemption from VAT for works and services carried out for the account of the free zone enterprise.
Additional advantages are also offered to them, in particular, the possibility of having a foreign
currency account, freedom to transfer capital and preferential tariffs for port services and the
consumption of water, electricity and telecommunications services (6 per cent discount for the
telephone, for example).  According to the authorities, the prices granted to these enterprises are notlower than the cost prices of the services concerned.
65. Sales on the national customs territory of products manufactured in the free zone must be
authorized by an order which fixes the percentage of the products in question.  To date, no request for
authorization has been refused.  Article 64 of the Act provides that, if an authorization is given for a
product which is manufactured also by an industry installed on the customs territory, the import of
this product will be subjected to the duties and taxes provided for in the official tariff, increased by anWT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 46
adjustment rate fixed by the interministerial order giving the authorization to import.  This extra
taxation is intended to prevent unfair competition by compensating for the specific advantages given
to enterprises in the free zone.  The provisions of the Article have never been applied to date, since no
case of such competition has yet been officially submitted.  However, it is difficult to control respect
for the limit of 20 per cent of the production sold on the customs territory, even if the enterprises
selling on the domestic market are obliged to have only one local distributor.  Such fraudulent saleswould inevitably affect the imports of similar products.
66. At the end of December 1997, 123 approvals for free zone status had been granted;  39 firms
were active and 40 were setting up;  23 approved projects had been abandoned and 13 firms had been
wound up (Table III.9).
20
Table III.9
Free zone statistics as at 31 December 1997
Number of
approvals grantedNumber of firms
active
(accumulated)Number of Togolese
jobs created
(accumulated)Wage bill
(in millions of
CFA francs)Total exports
(in millions of
CFA francs)
1990 26 3 176 ... …
1991 18 14 871 316.3 2,125.6
1992 4 15 971 223.1 1,299.7
1993 5 22 1,713 430.8 2,913.8
1994 9 24 2,934 500.1 5,882.3
1995 16 26 3,739 1,058.5 8,674.8
1996 19 36 5,863 1,604.3 12,589.2
1997 26 39 6,154 1,308.4 17,651.6
… Not available.
Source: Society for the Administration of the Free Zones (SAZOF).
(vii) Export promotion, financing and assistance
67. Measures to promote Togolese exports are essentially included in the provisions made for the
free zones.  However, in the context of the Action Programme for the Development of Foreign Trade,
it is proposed to reorganize the Directorate of Foreign Trade so as to adapt it more effectively to thecurrent environment;  organizations for the promotion of exports and for the insurance of export
credits, and the establishment of an export promotion and financing guarantee fund are envisaged.
21
Training of private individuals in export promotion and research into the foreign markets of inputsused in the manufacture of products exported by Togo are also being envisaged.
(4) 
OTHER MEASURES AFFECTING PRODUCTION AND TRADE
(i) State trading, state enterprises and privatization
68. The first programme to disengage the State from production and marketing operations dates
from 1983.  However, the process of disengagement of the State has accelerated, particularly since the
beginning of the 1990s.22  A new legal framework for the operation of disengaging the State from the
State-owned enterprises has been in force since 1994.23 It specifies the conditions, procedures and
advantages linked to the partial or complete privatization of State-owned enterprises.
                                                     
20 Four of the firms wound up were bought up by four enterprises in the free zone.
21 Government of Togo (1997).
22 Act No. 90-26 of 4 December 1990 and Decree No. 91-197 of 16 August 1991.
23 Ordinance No. 94-002 and Decree No. 94-038 of 10 June 1994.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 47
69. The Ministry of State-owned Enterprises and of the Development of the Free Zone
(MSEDZF), assisted by the Privatization Commission, is responsible for the implementation of the
programme for the disengagement of the State from economic activities.  The Commission is made up
of two representatives of the private sector (one of  the banking sector) and two representatives of each
of the ministries responsible for State-owned enterprises, finance and economic affairs, commerce and
planning.  Its members are appointed for three years, renewable once only.  No sector of activity is, inprinciple, excluded from the privatization process.  Nevertheless, the Government reserves the right to
take steps, by decree, to protect the national interest.
70. The choice of the form of disengagement of the State from each enterprise is a matter for the
Government:  the method is proposed by the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, in consultation
with the Privatization Commission.  The possible pro cedures are:  open or restricted invitations to
tender (the tenders are assessed in terms of the experience of the purchaser, the price and the means of
payment proposed, the technical and financial guarantees offered, particular commitments and the
impact of the operation on the economy) and the public sale of shares in accordance with determined
price conditions.
71. At the end of 1997, there were still 25 State-owned companies and eight parastatals (four of
which had a State majority holding) in activity (Table III.10);  28 State-owned enterprises had already
been wound up.  The monopoly of imports granted to the National Trading Company (SONACOM)
in 1973 had been revoked in 1988.
24 The present programme, which has been running since 1994,
provides for the liquidation of seven more enterprises.  Performance contracts have been signed with a
number of State-owned enterprises, namely the Togo National Water Corporation in November 1996
and the Togo Electric Power Company in February 1997.
                                                     
24 The monopoly was granted by Order No. 73/8/SECIPT/DECE/DCIP of 11 June 1973 and revoked by
Ordinance No. 88/04 of 27 June 1988.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 48
Table III.10
List of State-owned  enterprises at the end of 1997
Field of activity Legal
statusaProportion of
the capital held
by the State
(in %)Proportion of the
capital held by the
private sector
(in %)Privatization
programme
PUBLIC SERVICES
CEET Electricity SOE 100
CNSS Social security SOE 100
EDITOGO Publishing SOE 100
LNBTP Public works SOE 100
TOGOTELECOM Telecommunications SOE 100
SPT Postal services SOE 100
PAL Port SOE 100
RNET Water SOE 100
MINING/INDUSTRY
OTP Phosphates SOE 100 40%
TOGOGAZ Industrial gases PS 40 60 15%
TRADING/TRANSPORT
SALT Airport management PS 60 40
TOGOPHARMA Pharmaceuticals SOE 100
AGRICULTURE/LIVESTOCK/FISHING
ODEF Forestry SOE 100
ONAF Slaughterhouse SOE 100
SATAL Chicken farming PS 50 50 Complete transfer
SOTOCO Cotton production and
saleSOE 100
FINANCIAL/INSURANCE INSTITUTIONS
BTCI Bank PS 51.7 48.3
BTD Bank PS 61.7 38.3
CET Savings bank SOE 100
SIAB Bank PS 50 50
BNI Bank SOE 20 80
UTB Bank SOE 100
GTA Insurance company PS 67 33
HOTELS
2 FEVRIER Hotel SOE 100
30 AOUT Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
CENTRALE Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
ECOLE LE BENIN Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
FAZAO Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
KARA Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
LA PAIX Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
LE ROC Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
SARAKAWA Hotel SOE 100 Complete transfer
MISCELLANEOUS
LONATO Lottery SOE 100
a SOE:  State-owned enterprise;  PS:  Parastatal company.
Source:  Togolese authorities.
72. Apart from the Togolese Phosphate Office (OTP), the Togolese Cotton Company (SOTOCO)
and Togopharma, the enterprises for the production and marketing of utilities (electricity, water,
telecommunications, public works, port services and postal services) are mainly those which are inmonopoly situations or which have exclusive rights in their areas of activity.Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 49
(ii) Subsidies and other forms of production assistance
73. The Investment Code offers tariff and tax exemptions in terms of the amount invested, the
number of permanent jobs created for nationals, the location of the enterprise and the use of local
inputs (Chapter II.4(ii)) The Mining Code also provides some advantages for enterprises having
adequate financial and technical capacities and interested in mining operations deemed to be of
national importance (Chapter II.4(ii)).
74. For the development and promotion of small- and medium-sized industries, two industrial
zones have been created at Lomé and at Lama Kara to receive such enterprises.  These zones are
serviced, i.e. provided with access facilities to the production unit sites and with supplies of water,
energy and telecommunications.
(iii) Price regulation and competition policy
75. Prices and competition regulations date from 1967.25 The prices of goods and services are
fixed freely by the economic operators.  Nevertheless, the Government (or its representative at the
regional level) can take steps to control prices in the interests of the "economic and social
development" of Togo.  Three special regimes are defined:  a price-freeze regime, a taxation regime
and a regime of controlled or supervised freedom.  The price-freeze regime means a ban on exceedingthe prices practised on a given date;  it is accompanied by a freeze on the profit mark-ups of the
middlemen.  The taxation regime implies fixation of the price or of the trade margins.  The controlled
freedom regime defines a limit price and the supervised freedom regime requires the prior notification
of new prices to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.  The National Prices Commission is
consulted on all questions concerning the regulation of prices.  The Act also specifies the penalties
and means of ensuring that the court decisions are respected, including seizures.  These provisions of
the regulations are no longer applied, because they are no longer in keeping with the present economicenvironment of Togo, after several years of liberalization.
76. Nowadays, only the prices of water, electricity and petroleum products are regulated.
26 The
Committee monitoring the prices of petroleum products, made up of members of the financial
departments and of the Ministry of Commerce, is responsible for fixing the reference prices and the
consumer prices of the petroleum products.  When the c.i.f. price varies within a range of 5 per cent,the margins of the oil companies have to be adjusted to maintain a stable consumer price throughout
the territory.  The reference prices in force date from June 1997.  An order at the beginning of 1998 is
designed to regulate gas prices in the same way.
77. According to the regulations, all advertising containing false allegations, indications or
presentations or calculated to deceive is forbidden.  The person responsible for the first introduction tothe market of a product is required to verify that it is in keeping with the provisions in force.  It is
forbidden to deceive the buyer concerning the nature, origin or essential qualities of the goods, the
quantities delivered, the risks inherent in the use of the product, the controls carried out or the
methods of use.  Similarly, it is forbidden to adulterate foodstuffs, medicines or agricultural produce.
The law also specifies the powers of inquiry and the procedures and penalties provided for in theevent of a violation of these provisions.
78. A bill to organize competition in Togo (Box III .1) is at present with the National Assembly.
It is designed to update the provisions of the price regulations and the rules applicable in matters of
competition.  A national competition and consump tion commission - an advisory organ - could be
                                                     
25 Ordinance No. 17 of 22 April 1967.
26 Orders by the Ministry of Commerce Nos. 28 and 29 of 17 August 1995.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 50
consulted by the administration with respect to al l matters relating to its fields of competence.
Government action will be refocused onto the control of competition and away from that of prices.
The bill sets forth, like the present law, the penalties and the means of ensuring that court orders are
respected.  Lack of the human resources needed for the monitoring services and the illiteracy of the
business people are some of the problems involved in promoting competition in Togo.
Box III.1:  Extract from the bill to organize competition in Togo
On freedom of prices:  The prices of goods and se rvices should be free throughout the territory and
determined solely by the play of competition.  Ne vertheless, when competition is limited, the Minister
of Commerce may regulate prices.  Likewise, he make take temporary steps to limit an excessive rise
in prices.  Such measures should not be effective for more than six months.
On the publicity of prices:  Every seller of a product and every provider of a service must, by means
of marking, labelling and displaying, inform th e consumer concerning the prices and special
conditions of sales.
On billing:  Every purchase of goods or products or every rendering of services for a trade activity
must form the subject of a bill.  The seller is bound to issue one and the purchaser is bound to ask for
one.
On price rings and abuse of a dominant position:  All forms of concerted action, agreements, express
or tacit rings or conspiracies having the purpose or capable of having the effect of preventing,
restricting or distorting free competition on a market are prohibited.
On imposed prices:  Any form of imposed price practices is prohibited.
On resale at a loss:  Resale at a loss of a product or a service is prohibited.
On refusal to sell to the consumer:  Refusal to sell and subordination of the sale of a product to the
purchase of a specific quantity or the purchase of another product or service (similarly for the
rendering of services) are prohibited.
On discriminatory practices among professionals:  Every producer, industrialist, trader or craftsman
is forbidden to practice, with regard to an economic  partner or to obtain from him, discriminatory
prices, terms of payment, conditions of sale or of purchase which are not justified by genuine
considerations.
On illegal sales:  Everyone is forbidden to offer for sale products or to propose services that are
supplied by the State or the local authorities.
On misleading or untruthful advertising:  All advertising containing false allegations, indications or
presentations or calculated to deceive is forbidden.  The person responsible for the first introduction
to the market of a product is required to verify that it is in keeping with the provisions in force.  It is
forbidden to deceive the buyer concerning the nature, origin or essential qualities of the goods, the
quantities delivered, the risks inherent in the use of the product, the controls carried out or the
methods of use.  Similarly, it is forbidden to adulterate foodstuffs, medicines or agricultural produce.
Source:  Togolese authorities(1998), bill organize competition in Togo.
(iv) Regional promotion measures and assistance to adjustment, and research and
development
79. The Investment Code contains some provisions to promote the development of certain regions
of the country through tax advantages for enterprises which establish themselves in the economically
less developed zones (zone 2, namely, the coastal region outside Lomé, the prefecture of the Gulf and
the Plateaux region;  and zone 3, namely, the Central Region, the Lama Kara region and the Savannahregion).Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 51
80. There are some 15 research centres that are financially supported by the State.  Priority
programmes are worked out for periods of three to four years.  Four major fields are covered:
agriculture and food;  health, nutrition and pharmacopoeia;  the science and technique of engineering;
and society, education and development.  Three national concertation structures are, as far as science
and technology are concerned, responsible for facilitating the interministerial dialogue and
communications between the various research institutions:  the National Scientific Research Council(CNRS), which is responsible for defining the broad outlines of research and drawing up a balance
sheet, the Technical Committee (CT) which has th ree interministerial technical evaluation and
monitoring commissions, and the Scientific Research Directorate (DRS), whose role is to follow up
and coordinate the execution of CNRS decisions and submit an annual report on research work in the
country.
81. For the period 1998-2000, five national programmes of priority research have been identified:
increasing agricultural productivity, harnessing natural resources, the handcrafting and industrial
processing of natural resources, the development of medicinal plants and the pharmacopoeia and the
social and cultural aspects of development.  Research is essentially financed by the State (master
budget, investment budget and equipment budget) and by funding from donors and NGOs.
(v) Measures for the protection of intellectual property rights
82. In Togo, intellectual property rights are gove rned by the Bangui Agreement of 1979, the other
signatories to which are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo,
Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal.  The essential purpose
of this Agreement is to promote and protect industrial property.  It establishes a uniform system for
the protection of intellectual property and, in particul ar, a system for the single filing of applications
for patents, registration of utility models, trademarks, service marks and other intellectual propertyrights recognized by all the countries signatory to the Agreement.
83. The African Intellectual Property Organization (AIPO) is responsible for administering the
Agreement.  Togo's liaison with AIPO is carried out by the National Industrial Property Structure
(SNPI) which is a subsidiary body of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.  The SNPI has the task
of centralizing and transmitting AIPO declarations of innovations carried out on the territory of Togo;it is also responsible for informing and sensitizin g the public.  The SNPI takes action both for the
protection of industrial property rights and the settleme nt of disputes concerning them.  It receives an
annual donation from AIPO;  the latter organization issues the industrial property titles.  Work is in
progress in AIPO to bring the provisions in force into line with the obligations of the Member
countries contained in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights,resulting from the Uruguay Round (Box III.2).  The Togolese Association for the Promotion of
Inventions, Innovations and Designs (ATOPIIC) promot es matters relevant to its areas of competence
and watches over the interests of inventors, innovators and designers.
84. As of 31 January 1998, 27 patents have been registered, 20 of them by natural persons, three
by research centres, three by enterprises and one by a foreign resident.  Between 1994 and May 1998,39 trademarks were registered by 17 companies or natural persons.WT/TPR/S/48 Trade Policies Review
Page 52
Box III.2  The Bangui Agreement on Intellectual Property
Patent legislation – Patents may relate to any new invention involving an inventive step and industrially
applicable;  plant varieties, animal species and essentially biological processes for the breeding of plants or
animals, other than microbiological processes, cannot be patented.  The protection of plant varieties is laid
down in the TRIPS Agreement (Article 27.3(b)).
Layout designs of integrated circuits are not currently protected.  Patents are protected for a period of ten years
which may be renewed twice for periods of five years.  As renewal is not automatic, the period must be brought
into conformity with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, which provides for a 20-year period for the
protection of patents c ounted from the filing date.  There are also divergences with respect to the granting of
compulsory licences, which may be issued where th e working of the patented invention is prevented by
importation of the protected product.  According to Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, patent rights may be
enjoyed without discrimination as to the place of invention of the product.  Similarly, Article 58.2 of Annex I of
the Bangui Agreement concerning counterfeiting when ther e is no local working is not consistent with the
provisions of Article 27.1.  The provisions regulating the granting of compulsory licences on public interest
grounds must also be brought into conformity with Article 31 of the Agreement.  Moreover, the Agreement
stipulates that the j udicial authorities shall have the authority to or der the defendant to prove that the process to
obtain an identical product is different fr om the patented process (Article 34).  Failing such proof, the process is
assumed to be counterfeited.  This provision does not appear in the Bangui Agreement.
Legislation with respect to trademarks – Trademarks and servicemarks are protected for a period of ten years
from the date of application for registration, renew able indefinitely.  The TRIPS Agreement (Article 16.1)
provides for protection against identical or similar signs for goods or services which are identical or similar to
those in respect of which the trademark is registered where such use would result in a likelihood of confusion.
In the case of the use of an identical sign, a likelihood of confusion is presumed.  The Agreement also provides
for increased protection of well-known trademarks (Article 16.2) as well as protection against the use of
identical or similar signs for products that are not similar.  These protec tions are not explicitly provided for by
the Bangui Agreement.  According to Article 19.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, the registration of a trademark may
be cancelled only after an uninterrupted period of at least three years of non-use.  This period is five years
under the Bangui Agreement (Article 22).
Copyright – Any original in tellectual, artistic or scientific work and a title thereof enjoy a exclusive incorporeal
property right enforceable against all persons.  The prot ection applies in particular to books and other writings,
lectures, addresses and other works of such nature, works created for the stage, musical works, pictorial works,
architectural works, maps and graphic reproductions, cinematographic, broadcasting and audiovisual works,
photographic works and translations and arrangements of the above-mentioned works as well as folklore
products.
The TRIPS Agreement also provides protection for computer programs and compilations of data which by
reason of the selection or arrangement  of their contents constitute intell ectual creations (Article 10).  The
Bangui Agreement contains no corresponding provision.  The related rights stipulated in Article 14 of the
TRIPS Agreement, such as the protection of performers, producers or phonograms (sound recordings) and
broadcasting organizations, do not appear in the Bangui Agreement either.
Industrial designs and other forms of intellectual property – the creator of any industrial design has the
exclusive right to its exploitation and sale under the Bangui Agreement.  The duration of the protection
conferred by a certificate of registration for an industrial design expires five years after the deposit of the
application for registration, but the registration may be renewed twice.  The TRIPS Agreement (Article 26.1)
grants broader rights, in particular with respect to imports.  The Bangui Agreement provides for the
registration of trade names for a renewable period of ten years from the date of filing.  Only registered names
are subject to criminal sanctions.  Appellations of origin are protected as such if they have been registered by
the AIPO or are to be treated as having been registered by virtue of an international convention to which Togo
is a party.
Source:  WTO (1997).Togo WT/TPR/S/48
Page 53
85. Togo acceded to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on 28 April 1975 and
has also acceded to a number of international agreem ents in that area:  the Berne Convention for the
Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Nairobi  Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol
and the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International
Registration (6 January 1968).  The WIPO Copyright Treaty27 and Performances and Phonograms
Treaty28 have not yet been ratified by Togo.
86. The Togolese Copyright Bureau (BUTODRA) is responsible for managing and defending the
said rights.29 It manages the interests of 290 authors, composers and designers.  It can go to court to
defend the interests for which it is responsible.  BUTODRA has some difficulty in recovering
copyright royalties from the media and from establishments such as restaurants, bars and nightclubs.The Directorate-General of Taxation (DGI) and BUTODRA are to work together to recover these
royalties and taxes at a single window (that of the DGI).  Some information and sensitization activities
are also scheduled.  A seminar organized by WIPO has already taken place and two others are
scheduled for members (the first for musicians and the second for writers and visual artists).
87. Very few cases concerning intellectual property, including copyright, have ever come to
court.  Most disputes, which incidentally are few in number, are settled privately:  the absence of
coordination with the customs and the limited resources of the administrative departments acting in
this area (including those responsible for enforcement) are probably the main reasons.  Thus, since
1997, only two cases have been taken to court, the offences concerned relating to the counterfeiting of
a trademark.
                                                     
27 WCT 1976.
28 WPPT 1976.
29 Act No. 91-12 of 10 June 1991 (and its application texts) to protect copyright, folklore and related
rights.