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Convention relating to Inter-States Road Transit of Goods [*]

Date enacted: 1982-05-02

In force: 1984-07-30

Content

The Governments of the Economic Community of West African States

Recalling paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 22 and Article 23 of the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States relating to customs and trade matters and Article 11 of the Protocol relating to the concept of products originating from Member States;

Accepting the principles of the Convention of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on transit of goods within landlocked countries adopted on 8th July, 1965;

Considering that it is necessary to set up an Inter-States road transit system in order to facilitate the transportation of goods between the territories of the Member States;

Conscious of the fact that Inter-States Road Transit System may facilitate the compilation of statistics of movement of goods;

Convinced that, in order to ensure that these statistics are comprehensive and reliable, it is necessary to ensure that the Member States collaborate at the administrative level and that the documents of the Inter-States road transit contain the necessary data;

Have agreed as follows:

Chapter I

Article 1

Definitions

In this Convention:

"Treaty" means the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States;

"Member State" or "Member States" means a Member State or Member States of the Economic Community of West African States;

"Inter-State Road Transit" (ISRT) means a regime that allows the transportation of goods by road from one Customs Office in a Member State to another Customs Office in another Member State through one or more Member States free of duties, taxes and restrictions while in transit. Such goods shall be accompanied with a set of customs documents and shall not be off-loaded or transferred while in transit;

"Principal Obligee" means any natural or legal person who, by a customs declaration, applies to carry out an Inter-State Road Transit operation and is thus responsible to the competent authorities for the regular execution of this operation;

"Means of Transport" means any road vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer of container used for the conveyance of goods;

"Office of Departure" means the Customs Office where the Inter-State Road Transit operation begins;

"Transit Office" means the Customs offices (other than those of departure and destination) through which vehicles pass during their Inter-State journey;

"Office of destination" means the Customs Office where the goods are to be presented and where the Inter-States Road Transit operation terminates;

"Office of guarantee" means the Office of departure where security bond arrangement concerning transit are concluded;

"Common border" means the border common to two Member States;

"Inter-State Road Transit Declaration" means the transit declaration made in appropriate booklet, a model of which is attached to this Convention as an appendix;

"Notice of passage" means an unnumbered leaflet of the Inter-States Road Transit declaration deposited by the transporter in each passage office;

"Merchandise" means all trade goods subject to trade with the exception of those stipulated in Annex "A" to this Convention.

Chapter II - Establishment of Inter- States Road Transit Regime

Article 2

An Inter-States Road Transit Regime is hereby established among Member States of ECOWAS for the purpose of facilitating the movement of goods in their territory as defined in Article 1.

Article 3

The provisions of Article 2 of this Convention shall, however, not apply to the following:

a.

Goods appearing on the special list of goods which is attached as Annex "A" to this Convention. The list may be amended by the Council of Ministers upon the recommendations of the Transport Commission;

b.

Transportation of goods carried out under the international railway transit system;
c.

Postal articles (including parcels sent by post).

Article 4

In order to enjoy the provisions of the present Convention, transporters authorised by their States shall:

a.

use road vehicles or container vehicles previously approved in conformity with the provisions indicated in Annex "B" to this Convention;
b.

have paid a deposit and obtained a receipt acceptable within the terms of the log-book and under the conditions stipulated in Annex "C" to this Convention.

Chapter III - Formalities

Articles 5

1.

In order to operate under this Inter-States Road Transit System, all goods shall be covered by the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration in accordance with the terms of the present Convention.

2.

The Inter-States Road Transit Declaration shall either be type-written or hand-written, but in the latter case it shall be in ink, legible and in printed characters.

3.

The Inter-States Transit Declaration shall bear the undertakings made by the principal obligee and his guarantor. They shall contain leaflets of undertakings and discharge which shall bear the number, type of package, description, quantity gross weight and value of the goods as well as countries of departure of transit and of destination.

Article 6

The Inter-States Transit Declaration which is to be completed at the point of departure shall comprise four leaflets numbered from 1 to 4, and be distributed as follows, after registration:

Leaflet No 1: this shall be detached and kept at the office of departure where it is checked against Leaflet No. 3 at the end of transit operations. The booklet is then delivered to the principal obligee or his authorised representative;

Leaflet No 2: this shall accompany the goods, and shall be deposited at the office of destination where it shall be kept;

Leaflet No 3: this shall accompany the goods and shall be deposited at the office of destination which shall then return the discharged leaflet directly to the office of departure or give it to the interested party of the representative who shall ensure its return to the office of departure;

Leaflet No 4: this shall accompany the goods and shall be deposited at the office of destination which shall forward it to the body charged with statistics in the Member State of destination;

Additional leaflets shall be made available to serve as notice of passage.

Article 7

Additional documents to the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration shall be regarded as an integral part of it.

Article 8

In case there are additional documents to the Inter-States Road Transit System in a Member State of departure to another Customs system, reference shall be made to these additional documents and to any other corresponding documents on the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration.

Article 9

1.

At the office of departure, as many leaflets of the notice of passage relative to the number of transit offices shall be produced in support of the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration.

2.

After registration, the notices of passage are handed back to the principal obligee, or to his authorised representative.

Article 10

The Principal obligee shall be bound:

1.

to follow the itinerary as specified;

2.

to deliver the goods intact at the office of destination within the prescribed period;
3.

to respect the provisions concerning the Inter-States Road Transit System and transit in each of the Member States whose territory is used for the transportation.

Article 11

The following shall be considered to constitute one means of transport, provided that they transport goods which are meant to be carried together:

1.

a sealed road vehicle;
2.

a sealed road vehicle accompanied by its trailer(s) or semi-trailer;
3.

container loaded on to a means of transport as understood by the present article.

The same means of transport may be used to load up goods in containers at several departure points, just as it can be used for off-loading at several offices of destination.

Article 12

The one means of transport shall only convey goods covered under the Inter-States Road Transit Regime.

Article 13

Only goods loaded or supposed to be loaded to only one means of transport and meant to be transported from the same office of departure to the same office of destination may be presented on the same Inter-States Declaration.

Article 14

The office of departure shall register the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration, indicate the itinerary and prescribe the period within which the goods shall be delivered at the office of destination and shall draw up identification procedures it thinks fit.

After making all the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration leaflets and the notices of passage as appropriate, the office of departure shall keep the leaflet No 1 for it and shall submit the booklet as well as the notices of passage to the principal obligee or his authorised representative.

Article 15

1.

The security of goods shall be ensured by sealing.

The sealing shall be done:

(a)

by vehicle;

(b)

by packages or containers.

2.

Sealing of vehicle shall be done only if the vehicle or vehicles:

(a)

can be sealed easily and effectively;

are constructed in such a manner that no goods can be removed or added without damage leaving visible traces or without the seal being broken;
(c)

contain no concealed space that may allow goods to be hidden;
(d)

whose spaces reserved for loading are easily accessible for customs inspection.

3.

The office of departure may do without sealing when, in view of other possible measures taken for identification, the description of goods in the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration allows identification.

Article 16

1.

The transportation of goods shall be carried out under the cover of the Inter-States Road Transit Booklet.

2.

Transportation shall be carried out through the offices indicated on the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration. However, when justified by circumstances, other passage offices may be used as directed by the appropriate authority.
3.

In each office open for transit, an official register shall be kept to register, in chronological order, all transit operations effected with reference to the number of ECOWAS/ISRT Log-Book.
4.

The Inter-States Road Transit Declaration leaflets shall be presented in each Member State whenever demanded by the Customs authorities which shall ensure that the sealings are intact. Except in cases where foul play is suspected, the Customs authorities of Member States shall respect the sealing done at the office of departure.

Article 17

At each transit office, the transporter shall present, on his arrival, the cargo as well as the Inter-States Road Transit Booklet.

Article 18

The transit office shall:

1.

ensure that it is included in the list of transit offices indicated on the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration;
2.

check to see that the sealings are in order;
3.

not carry out a check on the goods unless it suspects irregularities which may give rise to foul play;
4.

put its stamp on all Inter-States Road Transit Declaration leaflets and transit notices that are presented;
5.

keep back one of the transit notices presented to it by the transporter and give back to the latter all the Inter-States Road Transit Documents as well as the remaining transit notices;
6.

shall affix its seal on its part of the declaration of discharge and return the log book to the transporter. The annotated discharged leaflet shall be addressed to the corresponding office of undertaking for checking.

Article 19

When, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 6, transportation takes place unavoidably through a transit office other than the one mentioned to the Inter-States Transit Declaration and the transit notices, the transit office used shall find out from the transporter the reason for changing his itinerary, state the reasons given briefly on the document presented to him, apply the provisions of Article 18 and immediately send the transit to the transit office which ought normally to have been used and which appears on the document in question.

Article 20

Goods listed on Inter-States Transit Declaration may, without any need for the renewals of the declaration, be transferred to another means of transport under the supervision of the Customs authorities of the Member State on the territory where the transfer is carried out. In this case, the Customs authorities shall mark as appropriate the Inter-States Transit Declaration leaflets and the transit notice.

Article 21

In case the sealing is damaged in the course of transportation for reasons beyond the control of the transporter, the latter shall, without any delay, ask for a statement to that effect in the Member State where the means of transportation happens to be at that time, from the Customs authorities if it is in the vicinity or, where that is not possible, from any other competent authority. The authority contacted shall then apply new sealings if possible. Report of the damage of sealing and the statement made to that effect and of the application of new sealing, as the case may be, shall then be made on the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration leaflets and the transit notice in the possession of the transporter.

Article 22

In case of an accident necessitating the transfer of goods to another means of transport, the provisions of Article 20 shall apply. If there is no Customs authorities in the vicinity, any other competent authority may intervene in accordance with the provisions of Article 21.

Article 23

In case of imminent danger necessitating immediate off-loading, partial or total, the transporter may use his discretion but shall report the steps taken on all the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration leaflets and the transit notice in his possession. The provisions of Article 21 shall apply in this case.

Article 24

When, as a result of an accident or other incidents which occurred during transportation, the transporter is not in a position to respect the time limit envisaged in Article 14, the competent authority shall indicate this on the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration leaflets and the transit notices in the possession of the transporter.

Article 25

The office of destination shall indicate on the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration leaflets whatever verification was carried out. Leaflet No 3 shall be sent back to the office of departure in accordance with the procedure stipulated in Article 6.

Article 26

1.

The Inter-States Road Transit operation may be terminated, in exceptional cases, at an office other than the one specified in the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration. The office in question then becomes the office of destination and the reason for the change shall be indicated on leaflets Nos 2, 3 and 4 of the declaration.

2.

The principal obligee and guarantor shall be free from their obligation vis-à-vis Customs authorities, when transit operation is completed with a discharge in the Customs Office of departure.

Chapter IV - Security

Article 27

1.

In order to facilitate the collection of duties and other levies which a Member State shall charge for goods which pass through its territory during Inter-States Road Transit, the principal obligee shall provide acceptable security.

2.

The sum of the security shall cover at least the sum of duties and taxes payable on such goods and possible penalties that may be incurred.

3.

The security may be comprehensive and made to cover several Inter-States Road Transit operations or be limited to a single Inter-States Road Transit operation.

4.

The comprehensive security shall cover several Inter-States Road Transit operations carried out within a period not exceeding one year.

Article 28

1.

The security mentioned in Article 27 above shall be a guarantee provided by a reputable financial institution affiliated to the West African Clearing House or any Institution of the Member State or legal entity approved by the Member State.

2.

This guarantee shall cover transit operations from the bureau of departure to the bureau of destination.
3.

The guarantee mechanism shall conform with the legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions of each Member State during the transitional period of three (3) years.

4.

The sample of the document and the certificate of guarantee are provided for in Annex "C"

Chapter V - Reporting of offences

Article 29

1.

When an infringement is established in the course of and at the time of an Inter-State Road Transit operation in a Member State, the duties, taxes and fines that may be incurred shall be collected by the Member State in conformity with the laws and regulations in force in each Member State.
2.

If the place of the infringement cannot be determined, then it shall be deemed to have been committed:

(a)

in the Member State where the infringement was noticed when, in the course of Inter-States Road Transit operation, the infringement is noticed at the office of an entry point in a Member State which is an internal border;
(b)

in the Member State to which the office is attached when, in the course of an Inter-States Road Transit operation, the infringement was noticed in the passage office of a Member State located at a border;
(c)

in the Member State to which the office of this entry point is attached when, in the course of an Inter-States Road Transit operation, the infringement is noticed at the office of the entry point of a Member State as defined in Article 1;
(d)

in the Member State to which the office is attached when, in the course of an Inter-States Road Transit operation, the infringement is noticed at the exit office as defined in Article 1;
(e)

in the Member State where the discovery was made when, in the course of an Inter-States Road Transit operation, the infringement was discovered on the territory of a Member State at a place other than a passage office;
(f)

in the last Member State of entrance, by transportation means and goods when, the cargo was not delivered at the office of destination;
(g)

in the Member State where the discovery was made when the infringement was noticed after the Inter-States Road Transit operation was carried out.

Article 30

1.

The Inter-States Road Transit Declaration duly delivered and the measures of identification by the Customs authorities of a Member State shall have the same legal effects accorded to declarations regularly issued and measures taken by customs authorities of each Member State.

2.

The discoveries made by competent authorities of a Member State during checks carried out within the framework of the Inter-States Road Transit System shall be equally binding as discoveries made by competent authorities of each Member State.

Article 31

As a matter of necessity, the Customs Administrations of the Member States shall communicate to one another the reports of incidents, documents, certified accounts and information on transportation carried out under the Inter-States Road Transit System as well as on the infringements discovered.

Chapter VI - Statistical provisions

Article 32

The office of departure shall transmit without delay, after verifying the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration, to the service which in the Member State of departure is the competent authority for external trade statistics, leaflet No 3 of the said declaration.

Article 33

The Customs Office of destination shall transmit without delay, after indicating the information specified in Article 25 to the service which in the Member State of destination is the competent authority for external trade statistics, leaflet No 4 of the Inter-States Road Transit Declaration.

Article 34

The passage offices of exit referred to in Article 1 shall forward, for necessary action, to the service which, in the Member State on which they depend, is the competent authority, for external trade statistics, copies of the passage notices submitted to them.

Chapter VII - Final provisions

Article 35

Any dispute between Member States as regards the interpretation or application of the present Convention shall be settled amicably by direct agreement.

Failing this, the dispute shall be sent by one of the parties to the Community's Tribunal whose decision shall be final.

Article 36

The annexes and appendices attached to the present Convention shall constitute an integral part of this Convention.

Article 37

1.

Any Member State, desirous of withdrawing from the present Convention, shall give one year notice to the Executive Secretary who shall inform all Member States. If, on expiration of this time limit, notification has not been withdrawn, the Member State concerned shall cease to be party to the present Convention.
2.

In the course of the one year period indicated in sub-paragraph 1 above, this Member State shall continue to comply with the provisions of the present Convention and remain bound to fulfil their obligations arising from the provisions of this Convention.

Article 38

Movement of goods under the Inter-States Road Transit Regime shall be subject to the different national regulations of the Member States provided that they are not contrary to the provisions of the present Convention.

Article 39

Each Member State shall, in agreement with their immediate neighbouring Member State establish a list of the itineraries and Customs Offices along the itineraries open to Inter-States Road Transport of goods.

Article 40

1.

The present Convention shall enter into force provisionally upon signature by Heads of State and Government of Member States and definitely upon ratification by at least seven signatory States in accordance with the constitutional procedure applicable for each signatory State.

2.

This Convention and instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Executive Secretariat of ECOWAS which shall transmit certified true copies of this Convention to all Member States and notify them of the dates of deposit of the instruments of ratification and shall register this Convention with the Organisation of African Unity, the United Nations and such Organisations as the Council shall determine.

3.

Each Member State shall inform the Executive Secretariat of the arrangement for the enforcement of the present Convention. The Executive Secretariat shall communicate this information to the other Member States of such arrangements.

Annex A

Special list of goods

[Omitted]

Annex B

Technical specification applicable to road vehicles involved in ECOWAS Inter-States transportation of merchandise under transit status

[Omitted]

Appendix 1

Agreement certificate for an ECOWAS road transit vehicle

[Omitted]

Appendix

Certificate of agreement for an ECOWAS road transit container

[Omitted]

Annex C

Modalities of implementation Article 28 of the ISRT Convention

ECOWAS IRST Declaration formula

[Omitted]

Annex

Supplementary Convention Establishing a Community Guarantee Mechanism for Inter-State Road Transit of Goods[*]

The Government of Member States of the Economic Community of West African States

Mindful of Article 5 of the ECOWAS Treaty establishing the Authority of Heads of State and Government and defining its composition and functions;

Mindful of the provisions of Article 22, paragraphs 3 and 4 and Article 23 of the ECOWAS Treaty on the re-exportation of goods and transit facilities and on customs legislation;

Mindful of the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 28 of Convention A/P.4/5/82 of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on Inter-State Road Transit of Goods;

Considering the urgent necessity to establish a Community guarantee mechanism to facilitate the free flow of goods in the field of Inter-State Road Transit of Goods.

Hereby agree as follows:

Article 1

In this Supplementary Convention, the following expression shall have the meaning assigned to them hereunder:

1.

"Treaty" means the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States.

2.

"Community" means the Economic Community of West African States.

3.

"Member State" or "Member States" means a Member State or Member States of the Economic Community of West African States.
4.

"Authority" means the Authority of Heads of State and Government established by Article 5 of the Treaty.
5.

"Executive Secretary" or "Executive Secretariat" means the Executive Secretary or the Executive Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States as defined in Article 8 of the Treaty.

Article 2

There is hereby established within the Community a guarantee mechanism for Inter- State Road Transit of Goods.

Article 3

1.

The mechanism shall consist of a chain of national bodies responsible for guaranteeing the payment of duties, taxes and other imposition incurred in the territory of the Member State transmitted within the framework of the Inter-State Road Transit of Goods.

2.

The national body shall be the institution or body corporate designated by each Member State to provide the principal obligee with the requisite guarantee for cover under ISRT-ECOWAS booklets.

3.

The national institution or body corporate so designated shall also be appointed by the Member State as the correspondent of the national institutions or body corporate designated by the other Member States of the Community.

Article 4

Each guarantee provided by the national institution or designated body corporate shall be valid for a single transit operation commencing from the customs office of departure to the customs office of final destination.

Article 5

1.

Each designated correspondent shall represent the guarantor in its relations with the competent authorities in the territory of the Member State of the correspondent.
2.

The national institution or body corporate designated in each Member State and their correspondents in each of the other Member States shall be linked to one another by an agreement which shall define the obligations between them.

Article 6

The national institutions and its correspondents, as well as the principal obligee, shall jointly and severally undertake to comply with the obligations stipulated in the Convention on the Inter-State Road Transit of Goods in force within the Community.

Article 7

In the event of partial or total failure to honour obligations or contravention of customs legislation and regulations, the guarantor or its correspondents shall pay the amounts due from the defaulting principal obligee on demand by the Customs Department of the Member State in which the offence is committed.

Article 8

Each Member State shall inform the Executive Secretariat of all measures taken for the implementation of this Supplementary Convention and of all measures taken for the implementation of Convention A/P.4/5/82 dated 29 May, 1982, on Inter-State Road Transit of Goods.

Article 9

Any dispute which may arise between Member States regarding the interpretation of application of this Supplementary Convention shall be settled in conformity with the procedure for the settlement of disputes stipulated in Article 56 of the Treaty.

Article 10

1.

Any Member State may submit proposals for amendment or revision of this Supplementary Convention.

2.

Any such proposals shall be submitted to the Executive Secretary who shall communicate them to other Member States within (30) thirty days of the receipt of such proposals. The amendments or revisions shall be examined by the Authority at the constitutional procedures applicable for each signatory Member State.

Article 11

1.

This Supplementary Convention shall enter into force provisionally upon signature by the Heads of State and Government of Member States and definitively upon ratification by at least seven (7) signatory Member States in accordance with the constitutional procedures applicable for each signatory Member State.

2.

This Supplementary Convention and all the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Executive Secretariat which shall transmit certified true copies to all Member States and notify them of the dates of deposit of the instruments of ratification and shall register this Supplementary Convention with the Organisation of Africa Unity, the United Nations Organisation and other Organisations designated by Council.

3.

This Supplementary Convention shall be annexed to and shall be an integral part of the Convention A/P/4/5/82 of May, 1982.
[*]

As adopted 1990-05-01. It constitutes an integral part of the present Convention.
[*]

This Convention is supplemented by Supplementary Convention Establishing a Community Guarantee Mechanism for Inter- State Road Transit of Goods signed 1990-05-01. The Supplementary Convention is annexed to this Convention.