“Wholly obtained” products
Wholly obtained products are finished products that do not contain any material not originating in another country (see Article 2 of the Regulation and Article 4 of the Decree). They include, for example, mineral products extracted from their soil or from their seabed or ocean floor; products of the plant kingdom harvested there; live animals born and reared there; products derived from live animals reared there.
“Sufficiently worked or processed” products
Products containing imported materials may be considered as originating in Cameroon if the finished product is sufficiently worked or processed in Cameroon according to the conditions defined.
Three types of criteria determine sufficient working or processing:
• Added-value: The value of materials not originating in Cameroon must not exceed a certain percentage of the ex-works price of the finished product. The general tolerance under the EPA is 15%. In other words, the value of all non-originating materials used in manufacture must not exceed 15% of the product’s ex-factory price. This gives Cameroonians more flexibility than the EU’s other trading partners, for whom the general tolerance is 10%.
• Change of tariff classification: Materials not originating in Cameroon used in the finished product must have a different Harmonised System tariff heading or subheading from that of the finished product. Thus, a change of tariff heading may be required at chapter level (the first 2 digits of the HS code, i.e. at the most aggregated level), in which case the transformation required is drastic; or, on the contrary, at subheading level (6 digits, the most refined level), in which case a relatively minor change is all that is required.
• Specific rules: Beyond the general tolerance concerning the value of non originating materials used, products may be subject to specific criteria, for example a particular process must be carried out on non-originating materials according to different prescriptions from those meeting the general tolerance or the product must be manufactured from a specific raw material. For example, a cocoa-based product will be considered Cameroonian and therefore eligible for duty-free export to the EU if all the ingredients not originating in Cameroon included in the product have been classified under a heading of the Harmonised System other than that of the finished product, and if the value of the imported sugar does not exceed 30% of the product’s ex-factory price.
Insufficient working or processing
Conversely, there are operations that may be considered as insufficient working or processing to consider the product as Cameroonian. For example, the following operations are not sufficient to consider an imported product eligible for duty free export to the EU:
• Handling to ensure that the products are kept in good condition during transport and storage (aeration, spreading out, drying, refrigeration, placing in water containing salt, sulphur or other substances, extraction of damaged parts, etc.).
• Simple operations such as dusting, sifting, sorting, classifying, assorting (including making up sets of goods), washing, painting and cutting;
• Changing packaging and dividing and combining packages;
• Simple placing in bottles, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, on boards, etc., as well as all other simple packaging operations.
The rule of cumulation of origin
Cumulation of origin is a system that allows EPA contracting parties to use raw materials and products originating in certain other countries and territories, regardless of their value, without this affecting preferential access to the European market.
• For example, a cosmetics producer in Cameroon can obtain raw plant extracts from a European overseas territory, and the end product, such as essential oils, will be considered as originating in Cameroon, thus enabling it to enter the EU market duty-free.
• Similarly, by importing diatomite, a microscopic seaweed in the form of flour, from France for use in the manufacture of a cosmetic product in Cameroon, the resulting cosmetic product exported to Europe will retain its status as a product originating in Cameroon.
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