Côte d'ivoire Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in côte d'ivoire, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Standards for Trade
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Côte d’Ivoire enforces a combination of mandatory and voluntary standards, technical regulations, and inspection requirements that constitute non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade. These measures aim to ensure product safety, protect public health, support fair commercial practices, and safeguard the environment. The national standards and certification agency is Côte d’Ivoire Normalisation (CODINORM), a semi-governmental non-profit established in August 1992 under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. CODINORM operates with a 23-member board comprising nine government representatives and 14 private-sector members and receives government subsidies.

CODINORM provides standards for business development, risk prevention, consumer protection, and fair trade. It has an agreement with ASTM International, giving it access to over 22,000 international standards, which assists U.S. exporters and other foreign firms in aligning products with Ivoirian requirements.

The Ivoirian Customs Office, in coordination with the Guichet Unique du Commerce Extérieur (GUCE), enforces customs inspection and conformity verification procedures. Goods exceeding 1,000,000 CFA francs (≈US$1,600) FOB must be inspected at the point of origin to verify invoice accuracy. This inspection certificate is used for customs valuation. Inspection fees include 0.75% of FOB value for the National Single Customs Window Platform and 1.05% for the inspection company (0.8% for petroleum and 1% for wood). Import duties and taxes must be paid within 20 days of arrival, and clearance times range from 48 hours to one week for familiar products, with longer periods for new or complex goods.

Standards and Technical Regulations

CODINORM develops Norme Ivoirienne (NI) standards, while also referencing regional WAEMU/ECOWAS standards and international standards (ISO, IEC, ASTM) where national standards are unavailable. Certain standards, particularly those covered by the Verification of Conformity (VoC) programme, are mandatory for imported goods, while others remain voluntary.

U.S.-based standards organizations (ASTM, API, SAE, ASME) are recognized for reference purposes, and CODINORM’s agreement with ASTM allows direct comparison between Ivoirian and American standards. Decree n°2016 1152 mandates compliance with NI standards for certain product categories, particularly those subject to pre-shipment verification. Non-manufacturing foreign entities may reference these standards but have limited direct participation in CODINORM’s standard-setting committees.

Testing, Inspection, and Certification

CODINORM accredits testing laboratories and certifies compliance with national standards. Domestic manufacturers and importers must provide proof of compliance via NI labeling or certificates issued by an accredited body based on ISO/CEI 65 or EN 45011 standards. Many Ivoirian firms have also obtained ISO 9000 certification.
Under the VoC programme, certain imports—including electrical and electronic goods, food products, personal protective equipment, textiles, construction materials, petroleum, and forestry products—require a certificate of conformity before customs clearance. 

Authorized inspection companies include:
•    Cotecna Inspection Ltd
•    Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS)
•    Bureau Veritas Valuation Assessment and Control (BIVAC-BV)
•    Intertek International Ltd

For foreign exporters, GUCE issues the certificate of conformity, while local firms receive compliance certificates through biannual inspections. All exported products require a certificate of conformity to clear customs.

Publication of Technical Regulations

Technical regulations and standards decrees are published in the Official Journal (Journal Officiel). Proposed regulations are generally not published for public comment, though final regulations are made publicly available. Exporters and importers should monitor CODINORM and Ministry of Commerce websites for updates affecting compliance requirements.

Key Contact Information:
•    Direction Générale des Douanes – Abidjan Plateau, BP V 25
Tel: +225 27 2025 1500 / 27 2025 1526 | www.douanes.ci

•    Guichet Unique du Commerce Extérieur (GUCE) – Immeuble Plein Ciel, Boulevard Valery Giscard d’Estaing, 26 BP 822 Abidjan 26
Tel: +225 27 2121 2399 | www.guce.gouv.ci

•    Côte d’Ivoire Normalisation (CODINORM) – Angle Blvd Latrille, Rue K115, Villa 195, 01 BP 1872 Abidjan 01
Tel: +225 27 2001 1074 | Fax: +225 27 2241 5297 | www.codinorm.ci

•    U.S. Commercial Service Standards Attaché: Tatyana Aguirre; Tatyana.Aguirre@trade.gov.

 
Use ePing to Review Proposed Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by World Trade Organization (WTO) Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995, to present. ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and is a versatile tool that can be used to: 

  • Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.
  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed.
  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees. 
     

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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