Members of the National Committee for the Approval of Industrial Products Originating from Cameroon, were installed yesterday, January 6, 2010 at the Ministry of Trade in Yaounde by the Secretary General of the said Ministry, Haman Oumar, representing his Minister. The installation ceremony followed the creation of the committee also known as “Committee of Origins” by a Prime Ministerial decision issued on December 23, 2010 within the framework of the amelioration of conditions of circulation of persons and goods currently undertaken by the Central African Economic and Monetary Union, CEMAC.
In his address to the newly commissioned members, Haman Oumar recalled that the CEMAC Council of Ministers created a Committee of Origins on June 20, 2008 and given the mission of approving products of CEMAC origin manufactured on the CEMAC zone territory and to give technical opinions on disputes involving products of CEMAC origin. “The institution of this committee aimed at facilitating the access of industrial products originating from the CEMAC zone to preferential regimes of inter-community trade,” he told the new members. He said each CEMAC member state was instructed to create a Committee of Origins at the national level to give technical opinions on the eligibility of applications submitted by companies seeking approval from the CEMAC Committee of Origins. “It was timely, considering the multitude of inquiries and complaints that we received from Cameroonian companies,” said Haman Oumar, noting the resurgence of discriminatory measures on Cameroonian products that are exported towards certain CEMAC countries.
The National Committee of Origins will have as mission to disseminate CEMAC’s texts on industrial products destined for sale in other CEMAC countries; to sensitise businessmen on the procedures to obtain approvals for products originating from CEMAC; to examine all applications for approvals submitted by businessmen before transmitting them with opinions to the CEMAC Commission. The Minister of Trade is the President of the National Committee of Origins whose membership consists of representatives of some ministries, businessmen associations, customs services, the Chamber of Commerce and the Agency for Normalisation and Quality, ANOR.
The Committee will be assisted by a technical secretariat whose task will be to study applications in-depth and ensure that the model forms provided are filled correctly by applicants. The application form requests information about the characteristics of the company, the product, its process of production, raw materials used and its packaging to determine the origin of the products based on the added value.
