ECTN Certificate
Import your goods seamlessly to certain countries in Africa.
What is ECTN Certificate?
An ECTN (Electronic Cargo Tracking Note) Certificate is a mandatory document for the import of goods into certain African countries. It provides information about the import cargo, its origin, destination and details about the shipper and the consignee. Essentially, the ECTN Certificate facilitates cargo tracking and ensures that all imports are documented, thus making it an integral part of customs compliance.
It assists African Customs authorities in anticipating cargo arrival (which helps improve logistics planning) and collecting accurate import duties. This certificate must be obtained and paid for beforehand, and then presented to the customs department during the clearance process.
The ECTN Certificate is known by different names in each country - such as CTN, BESC, FERI, CNCA, BIETC and ENS. However, they all refer to the same concept – a cargo tracking note or a waiver certificate.
What are the challenges in acquiring ECTN Certificate?
Today, the process of getting ECTN Certificates is fragmented and tends to happen outside of your customs and cargo journey. This creates inefficiencies in the movement of information and the process of documentation. This disconnected procedure could incur penalties and fines and increase the odds of changes to transport plans being missed in the ECTN application.
Typically, different ECTN vendors might be involved in the process based on the destination rather than the origin and therefore you are often left with no choice other than to engage with multiple vendors depending on your specific destination.
You might rarely know who to contact for ECTN and so it becomes cumbersome to find a vendor, set them up, create an additional supplier, negotiate credit terms and manage payments.
Why choose Maersk?
What are the essential documents for obtaining an ECTN Certificate?
To get your ECTN Certificate, you require 3 main documents. If Maersk is your ocean carrier, 2 of them are already obtained. Additionally, if we take care of the export clearance or manage your supply chain, we get all 3 documents and we can produce the ECTN Certificate without any further involvement required from your end. The documents are:
Ocean Bill of Lading: Document issued by a carrier to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment.
Freight Invoice: An invoice that shows the cost of transporting the goods (if applicable).
Commercial Invoice: This invoice has all relevant details of the goods being shipped, including the total value.
Other documents:
Packing List: Contains details like the contents, weight, and dimensions of the shipment.
Export Customs Document: To show that the goods have been cleared for export.
Other specific documents: Depending on the country, additional documents like an import license or certificate of origin may be required.
How can you apply for an ECTN Certificate?
You can add ECTN Certificate to your contractual agreement or during the booking process.
Before booking
During and after booking
Which are the countries that require ECTN Certification?
These are the countries where ECTN Certificate or an equivalent certificate is required for import - Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Democratic Republic Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Togo.
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