By Ndumbe Bell JG in Douala
Following chilling revelations made by the United Nations estimating that Africa losses about US dollars 89billion annually and that Cameroon in particular losses over US dollars 7billion annually or FCFA 4200 billion in trade falsification, corruption, and tax evasion, the Cameroon Customs has reinforced mechanisms to identify and sanction defaulters.
Reports presented at the 209th litigation or arbitration session by what the Customs call the Dispute Approval Committee, chaired by the Director General of Cameroon Customs, Fongod Edwin Nuvaga recently, revealed that between September 18 and October 15, 675 litigation files were treated.
The committee in charge analysed that recoveries made from customs duty evaders resulted to a substantial FCFA 1.748.374.260 and fines on defaulters amounted to FCFA 1.821.306.280. These figures put together amount to over FCFA 3.5billion which the Customs say, is the result of nine sessions held so far in this fiscal year (2025).
As the Customs intensify the fight to tackle these unscrupulous acts, falsified or evaded duties rose by 87 percent relative to that of 2024. Fines have reported an increase of 99 percent in 2025 and the number of litigation cases rose from 5775 to 6597, an increase of 14.2 percent.
The presentation of the 209th session also included the following main types of offenses recorded; there were false declarations of value registering 130 cases, undeclared imports registering 140 cases and smuggling 75 cases. According to Bus Cam, combined infraction involving undeclared or falsely valued goods and failure to clear import files generated FCFA 700.971.512 in evaded duties and FCFA 400,000.000 in fines. Undeclared imports alone accounted for 362,704.078 in evaded duties and FCFA 185,671.337 in fines. False declarations of value accounted for FCFA 224,346.958 in evaded duties. Offenses related to undeclared exports were fined FCFA 228.610.000.