ABSTRACT

The study was about the challenges faced by Cameroon importers case of Car importation in Douala sea port. All imported goods are subject to customs clearance at the port of entry in every destination country. Delay in customs clearing of goods causes to emerge and increase  demurrage  costs  and  abandonment  of  cars.  The  study  has  determined  and evaluated the import challenges faced by countries in the CEMAC zone as some of these countries import through the Douala sea port, Cameroon. Factors was combine to yield different sets of challenges and priorities in these countries. The research methodology concerned about data collection where the researchers was applying systematic approaches in data collection so as to come up with specific findings. The researchers used a survey research design to find the challenges faced by car importers in Cameroon of sea port consignment. Interview was the main instrument for data collection. The Data Extraction table was used to analyse the data gathered in the field. The straight line equation was used to determine the study population, the study used a census of 40 respondents using systematic  random  sampling  technique,  and  method  of  data  collection  (primary  and secondary data). These respondents consisted of the Douala Port Authority Managers, the Cameroon Custom Authorities, clearing agents, import clients and duellers of all works of life. The finding revealed that among major challenges come as the results of clearance procedures in Cameroon being too long, surrounded with corruption environment due to multiple documentation requirements and the procedures are neither transparent enough nor documented. The study concludes with a brief set of policy recommendations.

Key words: Challenges, Importers, Importation, Customs Clearing

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

International trade is the performance of trade and investment activities across national boundaries (Voerman, 2011), International trade is also seen as the exchange of cars and services between countries. Importation is one of the critical forces that encompasses international trade. Many countries rely on imports to benefit or consumer cars which they cannot produce. According to Dr Jean-Paul Rodrigue (2017), Companies perform various  activities  in  more  than  one  country  such  as  manufacturing,  selling  or  even sourcing. Technology has made it possible to access multiple markets around the globe within a short time. This has mostly influenced companies to expand their market share to other  countries  other  than  the  parent  country.  Cavusgil  (2010)  further  indicate  that companies can make international trade through methods such as exporting, foreign direct investment, franchising or even licensing. The institutional idea advanced by Meyer and Rowan (1977) asserted that the institutional environment can highly influence the development of formal structures in an organization, often more profoundly than market pressures. Innovative structures that improve technical efficiency  in  early  adopting  organizations  are  legitimized  in  the  environment. Technological gap philosophy was advanced by Posner (1961) who describes technology theory as advantage enjoyed by the Nation that introduces new cars in a market. As a result of research activity and entrepreneurship, new products are produced, and the innovating country enjoys a monopoly until the other Nations learn to produce these cars, while market imperfection concept was advanced by several people including (Hymer, 1976). These researchers define market imperfection as anything that interferes with trade. Market imperfections include two dimensions of fault. First imperfections cause a rational market participant to divert from holding the market portfolio. Second, imperfections cause a rational market participant to deviate from his preferred risk level. Market imperfections generate costs which interfere with trades that intelligent individuals make or would make in the absence of defects.

international trade  is  the  Interchange  of  cars  and  services  between  countries  (Heakal2011). This type of business gives rise to the world economy, in which prices, or supply and demand causes and are affected by global events. Trading globally gives consumers and countries the chances to be exposed to cars and services not provided in their own countries. Numerous types of product can be found on the international market: food, clothes, spare parts, oil, jewellery, wine, stocks, currencies and water. Services are also sold: tourism, banking, consulting and transportation. A product that is delivered to the international market is an export, and a product that is purchased from the global market is an import.

 According to Husted (2007), all countries participate in international trade, meaning some cars  and  services  manufactured  within  every  country  are  sold  to  economic  agents (industries, firms, governments etc.) in other countries, these products are known as exports. Some cars and services consumed within a state have been purchased from economic agents in other countries; these cars are known as imports. Countries differ in how  much  they  take  part  in  international  trade.  According  to  Wikipedia  the  free encyclopaedia (2016) a measure of this participation (crude measure) is given by the ratio of exports to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Gross National Product) multiplied by 100. This measure is known as the index of openness. Generally, this number will vary between 0 – 100. Sometimes it will go higher though scarce to more than 100. Countries with high values of this index trade a lot with the rest of the globe and are said to be relatively open, those with low costs are said to be relatively close because international trade is only a small part of their economic activity (Husted, 2007). The extent of economic activity in a country can be measured in many ways. The two most common measures are GNP and GDP of a nation. GNP, this is the value of final cars and services by a domestic factor of production. No matter where they are located, be it locally or abroad. And, GDP which is the value of final cars and services produced within a country no matter whether the factors of production are home or foreign (McDaniel, 2008).

 According to Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia, (2018) an import is a good brought into a jurisdiction, especially across national borders from external sources. The party bringing  in the good is called the importer. An import in the receiving nation is an export from the sending  country.  Importation  and  exportation  are  the  defining  financial  affairs  of international trade. More so Kimberly Amadeo, (2017) also defined imports as foreign cars and services bought by residents of a country. Residents here include citizens, businesses and the government. It doesn’t matter what the imports are or how the are sent, they can be exported, sent by mail or even hand-carried in personal luggage on a plane if they are produced overseas and sold to domestic residents, and therefore they are imports. Even tourism products and services are considered as imports.

Trade is not a modern invention. International trade today is not qualitatively different from the exchange of cars and services that people have been conducting for thousands of  years.  The  motivation  for  a  country  to  import  products  and  services  from  other  countries is however less obvious than its motivation for selling exports (making a profit on cars not used up by the domestic market). As with exports, the aim served by imports differ from country to country. Let’s explore these different purposes  starting with asking why countries like the United States (North America), China (Asia), Germany (Europe),  and  South  Africa  (Africa)  with  its  massive  and  extraordinarily  different economy, would need to import anything from other countries.

 In the United States for instance import cars such as tungsten and oil, which are either not  produce  at  all  or  are  not  provided  in  sufficient  quantities  to  serve  domestic requirements at a reasonable price. The United States cannot meet up its oil consumption needs exclusively through domestically produced oil; in 2010 the U.S. consumed   roughly 19.2 billion barrels of oil per day however the U.S only produced about 5.5 billion barrels of oil per day (U.S energy information administration 2012)

surpasses that of services by about three times, looking at the nature of some services which makes them tougher to trade through borders. According to Daniel  Workman (2018) in the EU Germany being one of the highest importing counties her imports represents 7.3% of the total global imports, which totalled $16.054 trillion in the year 2016, in 2017 Germany imported US$1.168 trillion worth of cars from around the globe. German‟s most valuable imported cars are cars ($123.2 billion) accounting for 10.5% of the countr‟s total imports, crude oil ($96.2 billion) making 8.2% of the countr‟s imports,  electronic  circuit  ($145.7  billion)  making  12.5%  of  its  total  imports  and pharmaceuticals ($53.6 billion) accounting for 4.6% of the countr‟s import (Daniel Workman, 2018).

Furthermore, the last five years have experienced the emergence of Africa as one of the fastest emerging markets for consumer and capital cars. As more and more countries in Africa take on economic liberation drives, the markets in Africa have recently become alive with hectic business activity. In recent times there has seen an enormous growth in demand from African countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Cameroon and Congo – that have emerged as new markets for many international suppliers. As a result, Africa, all of a sudden, has emerged as the market of tomorrow. South Africa is Africa‟s top importer imported US$83.2 billion worth of cars from around the globe in 2017, down by -19.5% over the five  years  starting  in  2013  but  up  by  11.3%  from  2016  to  2017(Daniel  W,  2018).

According to him, South African imports represent 0.5% of the total global imports which totalled an estimated $16.054 trillion one year prior during 2016. Some of the major imports into South Africa include; 

In 2017countries  like  the  United  States  of  America  (North  America),  China  (Asia), Germany (Europe) and South Africa (Africa)recorded the world‟s largest importation in the   above   mentioned   continents   with   an   estimate   of   about    $2,352,000,000,000, $1,731,000,000,000, $1,104,000,000,000, 85,030,000,000 respectively (Mandruss, 2018).

Cameroon is a country in the western part of Africa; she borders by the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, and Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Chad. Cameroon has some seaports such as the Douala seaport, the Kribi seaport, the Limbe seaport and the Garoua seaport. The Douala port is the busiest and most important, minor ports include Kribi, used mainly for exporting timber, and Limber used mainly for palm- oil exports. Cameroon is ranked 163 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to latest World Bank annual ratings. The rank of Cameroon improved to 163 in 2017 from 166 in 2016. Ease of doing business in Cameroon average 165.80 from 2008 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 171 in 2009 and record low of 161 in 2011(trading economy,  2018).  According  to  the  2016  list  of  counties  by  merchandize  imports, Cameroon was ranked 113th in the world regarding the value of cars imported with a total import value of $6,630,000,000 (Mandruss,2018)

According to crystallized  carbon  (2018),  Cameroon‟s  main  import  partners  were China(27.9%) ,Nigeria(13.9%) , France(10.9%) and Belgium( 4.1%) registering a total import of $6.159 billion in 2015.According to him/her, Cameroons main import cars are machinery, electrical equipment, transport equipment fuel and food. In 2015 her main export partners were China (16.7%), India (15.7%), and Spain (6.2%)      Belgium (6.1%), France (6.1%), Portugal (5.6%), Netherlands (5%), and 5% for Italy   (Crystallizedcarbon, 2018).

1.2. Statement of the problem

The effects of facilitation trade on clearance procedures of cars poses a significant challenge in the automotive industry, impacting the timely import and export of vehicles across borders. The complexities and variations in trade regulations, tariffs, and customs procedures create hurdles for car clearance processes, leading to delays, increased costs, and operational inefficiencies. Understanding how trade dynamics influence clearance procedures for cars is crucial for identifying bottlenecks, improving coordination between stakeholders, and optimizing the flow of vehicles in the global trade environment. Consequently, there is a pressing need to investigate the impact of trade on car clearance procedures to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and facilitate smoother cross-border movement of vehicles.

This problem statement sets the stage for exploring the intricate relationship between trade practices and the clearance procedures of cars, emphasizing the importance of streamlining processes to mitigate delays and enhance the overall efficiency of the automotive trade

• Research Questions

The main research question for this study is What are the effects of trade facilitation on clearance procedures at the Douala sea port it’s is guided by the following specific question

1. what are the key factors influencing the efficiency and effectiveness of car clearance processes across different borders?
2. How does facilitation affect the clearance procedures of cars?
3. How can these challenges be overcome to ensure a mutual trade facilitation for importer and exporters?

1.4 Main objective

The main research Objective for this study is To evaluate the challenges faced by car importers. it is guided by the following specific objectives

1. To investigate the impact of trade agreements and customs regulations on the clearance procedures of cars
2. To identify the challenges and bottlenecks faced by stakeholders involved in car clearance processes due to trade-related factors such as tariffs, quotas, and trade barriers.
3. To evaluate the current management strategies of the problem and propose sustainable planning recommendation.