Togo : Suspension of the statistical levy on goods destined for AES countries
Togo Offers New Benefits to Sahel Alliance Countries. In a decision made last February, the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR) announced the suspension of the statistical levy for Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
As one of the West African countries closest to the Sahel Alliance (AES), and one of the few to refuse to strictly enforce the economic sanctions imposed by ECOWAS, Togo has eased the conditions for transit of goods by sea to these three countries. The Togolese Revenue Office (OTR) has suspended the payment of the statistical levy on goods arriving by sea at the Port of Lomé and declared in transit to Burkina Faso, Mali, or Niger.
The statistical levy is a charge applied to imports and exports. It is used to finance the country’s statistical activities, including the collection, processing, and dissemination of economic and trade data.
For these landlocked countries, now forming the Sahel Alliance (AES), the levy—initially set at 2% and then reduced to 1% under the ECOWAS common external tariff—had been temporarily suspended since 1975.
This tax was implemented to discourage economic operators from unloading their goods at neighboring ports and transiting them through Togo, before following the Lomé-Ouaga-Niamey-Bamako corridor.
« The additional code 981 dedicated to the suspension should only be used when lifting transit declarations (IM8) in the divisions of the Directorate of Customs Operations of Lome-Port (DODLP) », ordered Philippe Kokou Tchodie, the General Commissioner of the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR).
Similarly, to bypass the jihadist threat in northwest Benin, goods destined for Burkina Faso from the Port of Cotonou enter Togo at Pagouda, descend to Kara, and then head towards the Burkinabe capital.
With this decision to suspend the tax, Togo aims to encourage economic operators from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to directly transport their goods to the Port of Lomé, thus generating more financial resources.
