Dear Partners & Colleagues
A Cargo Tracking Note or BSC (Bordereau de Suivi de Cargaison) is now required in the following African countries before the arrival of imports:
| Country |
Import document required |
| Angola |
CNCA (Conselho Nacional de Carregadores) |
| Benin |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
| Central African Republic |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of |
FERI (Fiche électronique de renseignement a l’import) |
| Congo (Brazzaville) |
BESC (Bordereau électronique de suivi de cargaison) |
| Gabon |
BIETC / BIC (Bordereau d’indentification électronique de tracabilité de cargaisons / Bordereau d’indentification de cargaison) |
| Ivory Coast |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
| Madagascar |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
| Mali |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
| Nigeria |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
| Senegal |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
| Togo |
BSC or Cargo Tracking Note |
These African countries implemented the new customs regulation last year to improve the tracking of imported goods.
The Cargo Tracking Note is issued at origin by an accredited agent. Some shipping lines will not load containers without this document, or will load but will not issue the Bill of Lading (BL) until the BSC is received. However, some shipping lines load and send containers without the BSC, resulting in unnecessary, additional costs.
An accredited agent is available to issue the document for all those countries requiring the BSC, either at origin or at one of the larger sea ports (Belgium in most cases).
The onus rests on the origin agent to find out which agent can issue the BSC to them.
If the container is sent without the BSC, it cannot be cleared until this document is issued. AGS can, in some countries, issue the BSC on behalf of agents. However, agents should expect additional costs per TEU to issue the BSC at destination, in addition to the fine. The fine is determined by customs according to the value of the shipment.
To avoid these unnecessary costs and fines, you are urged to ensure that a BSC is issued at origin. This will also save demurrage and storage costs. |
