Togo

Electronic Cargo Tracking Note

The Republic of Togo, is a country in West Africa and bordered by 3 countries: GHANA in the West, BURKINA FASO in the North, and BENIN in the East.

According to Conseil National de Chargeurs Togolais (CNCT) from Customs numbered 2001-066 (09/03/01) and 007/MTRH effective from May 9, 2000, all sea cargo shipped to Togo requires an Electronic Cargo Tracking Number (ECTN) certificate.

Togo ports are used for transit purposes to Burkina Faso and Niger, as well as Ghana and Benin. Whether the goods discharged at the Togo ports for transit purposes or as a final destination, each shipment must have valid Togo ECTN certificate

Port

• LOME

Documents and Informations required

• Bill of Lading (Final B/L for validation)
• Commercial invoice / currency must be mentioned in USD or EURO
• Freight invoice in the same currency (not needed in case the freight charges are mentioned on the commercial invoice)
• Export Customs document
• Country of Origin of the goods

Additional information

• For TOGO, it is not mandatory to mention the ECTN number on the Master Bill of Lading.
• Besides this, we are able to provide the ECTN number beforehand, even when the documentation is incomplete.

Procedure

• Submit the required documents by email or online.
• You will be sent a draft and an invoice, typically within the same day.
• Once your payment has been received and you approve the draft, a validation will be sent.
• A pre-validated ECTN should be completed and validated within 5 working days. If not, the ECTN document will be cancelled. All costs involved will be for the applicant’s account.

Timeline

• The ECTN must be validated at the latest 5 days before the vessel arrives at the destination.
• Since the CTN is validated by the authorities in the destination country, the process from submitting a request to final validation can take 3-5 days.

Penalties

• Charging without BSC constitutes a regulatory violation, which entails not only the payment of the ECTN fee but also a penalty.
• Shipment arriving without ECTN or false information in the ECTN results in a fine of an amount that is twice of the cost of the ECTN, plus the regulation charge determined by Togolese National Port officials.