Senegal

In 2008, Senegal Customs Officials decided to implement a new regulation for the exporters. This regulation said that a BSC certificate must accompany all shipments to Senegal, and any cargo without it will cause severe consequences for the exporter. It is mandatory for Dakar, Kaolack, and every other port in Senegal. But if Senegal is not your shipment’s final destination, you don’t have to have this cargo waiver. Click here to find out more on transit shipments.

You would think, that a certificate as crucial as this one wouldn’t be missed by anyone, but the story is a whole lot different. People tend to overlook this certificate and get penalized for it way more often than you think.

What is Senegal BSC?

BSC stands for Bordereau de Suivi des Cargaisons, which is French for Cargo Tracking Note or CTN for short. The name itself provides a clear indication of its purpose. It is a certificate utilized by authorities to track, manage, and supervise all cargos from loading to discharge. Additionally, it enables officials to obtain information about the shipments even before they arrive at the destination port. This includes details about the exporter, the importer, information about the transported goods and their value, the cost of the freight, the type of shipment, the name of the vessel, and more.

What are the required documents for it?

Senegal is pretty merciful when it comes to required documents. It is not like Ivory Coast that asks for roughly 7-8 documents for the BSC waiver.

You will find Senegals requirements for the BSC in the following:

• Bill of Lading: This is a document that includes details about the exporter, the importer, the weight of the goods, the shipping line, the vessel name, etc.
• Commercial Invoice: It contains details of the goods, the freight cost, the incoterm, and some other charges if there is any, etc.
• Freight Invoice: This is a required document if the freight cost isn’t on the Commerical Invoice.

What are the consequences of not having this certificate?

First of all, according to the regulations, you must validate the BSC certificate five days before the vessel arrives at the latest. And if your cargo arrives without a BSC, you will get fined twice the amount of the BSC cost and on top of that, the regulation fee determined by the Senegal National Port Officials.

Pricing

Certificate cost depends on the number of Bill of Ladings and the containers, the country of origin, the port of discharge, etc. This is why we can’t give you an exact price for the CTN. But if you share your shipment’s details with us we can provide you the best charges for your certificate. We offer free quotation.

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What are the most imported items into Senegal?

Product label	Imported value in 2020	Imported value in 2021	Imported value in 2022
All products	7,820,339	8,285,456	12,129,313
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral . . .	1,811,009	2,379,195	3,838,281
Cereals	693,261	793,272	1,087,496
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof	665,684	606,416	923,954
Articles of iron or steel	199,510	259,333	542,803
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television . . .	537,735	398,406	519,656
Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof	444,477	461,981	489,639
Iron and steel	277,226	412,943	393,166
Ships, boats and floating structures	50,488	24,569	387,644
Plastics and articles thereof	233,071	254,990	351,027
Pharmaceutical products	281,393	309,180	313,298
Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement	93,404	154,122	309,707
Preparations of cereals, flour, starch or milk; pastrycooks’ products	228,006	158,170	231,184
Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; . . .	243,146	202,072	197,252
Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard	110,983	112,361	142,973
Fertilisers	58,741	34,636	142,886
Sugars and sugar confectionery	107,612	90,641	126,318
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical . . .	111,383	85,522	118,559
Organic chemicals	69,575	71,703	112,408
Miscellaneous chemical products	82,252	70,007	110,266
Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal	56,292	61,506	109,046
Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere . . .	85,168	84,577	101,525
Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; . . .	67,771	60,619	97,716
Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, . . .	55,115	45,070	95,446
Miscellaneous edible preparations	79,295	67,161	85,388

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