A- Sales procedures on deposit.

1. All goods that have stayed more than one hundred twenty (120) days, unless otherwise specified in the regulations, are considered abandoned (Sections 280, 281 and 287 of the Customs Code).
2. The Operators, for these goods, send a letter of suffering to the Deposit Section of the Cotonou-Port Customs Recipe. This list contains minutes of the time limit of one hundred and twenty (120) days.
3. The Depository Section initiates a request for confiscation, at the signature of the Departmental Director of the Atlantic and Littoral Customs, to the First Class Court of First Instance of Cotonou.
4. The President of the First Class Court of First Instance of Cotonou issues an order for confiscation and sale by public auction.
5. Pursuant to this order, the Chief Depositor shall notify the Operator and initiate a notice of public auction of the goods concerned. This notice is signed by the Chief Depositor, the Receiver of Customs of Cotonou-Port, the Departmental Director of Customs of the Atlantic and Littoral and finally the National Receiver of Customs as the President of the Public Auction Commission.
6. The notice of sale shall be published by poster for a minimum period of ten (10) days, in accordance with Article 444(2) of the Customs Code. The public poster can be relayed through communications to the media.
7. The Customs Deposit Section requests, from container terminals, the transfer and reconciliation of the goods concerned (Articles 282 and 286 of the Customs Code).
8. The public auction is organised after this time, under the chairmanship of the National Customs Receiver, Chairman of the Public Auction Commission, following Service Note No.1353/DGDDI/DAR of 03/07/2009 setting up, organizing and operating the commission responsible for the public auction at the customs depot. This sale is carried out under the conditions laid down in articles 288 and 447 of the Customs Code.

9. The successful tenderers shall make payment after issue of the declaration which clears the manifest of the goods concerned.
10. the payment clearance is certified by the Depositing Section as the listing from the computer system. Both certified documents (quittance and listing) are forwarded to SOBEMAP for issuance of the scorecard.
11. All three documents (quittance, listing and scorecard) are handed over to the successful tenderer who proceeds with the removal of his goods.
12. It should be noted that, in the absence of sufficient offers or auctions or in the absence of cash payments by the successful tenderers and of the removal within the prescribed time limits, the goods are subject to the provisions of Article 447 of the Customs Code (withdrawal of the sale of the goods, destruction or discharge at the expense and risk of the successful tenderers).
13. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 447 (4) of the Customs Code, sales are recorded in minutes. To this end, the Sales Commission, via the Chief Depositor, shall record all public auctions of goods carried out for the period covered by a report. The latter, signed by the Head of Customs Deposit, the Receiver, the Inspector General of Services and the National Receiver of Customs, President of the Commission, is registered in the Directorate General of Taxes.

B. Payment of shopping and similar costs

The second task assigned to the deposit section is the determination and liquidation of the shopping and similar costs.

• Shopping costs

All goods landed in the port of Cotonou shall be exempt from deposit from the date of departure of the vessel which carried it and irrespective of the customs procedure to which it is subject. This exemption period varies according to the country of destination of the goods.

• 15-day deductible period:

The duty-free period for goods and vehicles in containers intended for coastal countries (e.g. Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Cameroon, etc.) and countries in the hinterland not having a trade cooperation agreement or agreements with the Republic of Benin (e.g. Chad) is fifteen (15) days.

• Thirty (30) days deductible period

For countries in the hinterland with trade cooperation agreements with the Republic of Benin (e.g. Niger, Burkina-Faso, Mali), the exemption period is thirty (30) days.

• Procedures

These fees are to be paid in the same way as other duties and taxes and levied according to the Unique Fiscal Border (BFU).

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