Importing From China to Gabon: Customs, VAT and Owendo Port in 2026

China exported 720.84 million US dollars worth of goods to Gabon in 2024 (tradingeconomics.com, Comtrade database, accessed September 27, 2026). Leading the list: machinery and nuclear reactors, 141.22 million US dollars, vehicles, 67.03 million, electrical equipment, 63.98 million, then plastics, 15.75 million in 2023 (same source).

Owendo port, near Libreville, handles most of this flow, as detailed further below. The economy remains dominated by oil, minerals and timber, which is pushing diversification toward machinery, equipment and construction materials imports (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024).

Gabon is a member of the World Trade Organization and of CEMAC, and applies CEMAC's common external tariff to any goods coming from a third country, China included (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024). A bilateral investment protection treaty links Gabon and China, but no specific bilateral trade or customs agreement was identified in these sources (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024).

Chinese goods therefore enter under the same tariff conditions as goods from any non-CEMAC country; only trade between member states, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and Chad, benefits from a preferential regime.

CEMAC's common external tariff sorts goods into four categories: 5% for essential goods, 10% for raw materials, 20% for intermediate products, which cover most food items, and 30% for other products, where most goods manufactured in China fall (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024). An IT levy, RUSID, is added on top and ranges from 2% to 80% of the CIF value depending on the service rendered, to be confirmed case by case (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024).

Import VAT stands at 18% on the customs value plus duties, a reduced rate of 10% for local mineral water, cement, sugar and chicken, and an exemption for dairy products, butter, margarine, cereals, medicines, medical equipment and fertilizers (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024).

Example for a customs value of 5,000,000 CFA francs, category 3, rate 20%: the duty comes to 1,000,000 CFA francs, bringing the base to 6,000,000, on which 18% VAT adds 1,080,000 CFA francs, for a total of 2,080,000 CFA francs before RUSID and PROGEC certification.

A bill of lading and a commercial invoice must accompany any goods entering Gabon, without exception (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024). Agricultural goods additionally require an import permit and a health certificate, and hazardous products, weapons, explosives, chemicals, require a specific permit. Since February 2016, a PROGEC certificate covers regulated products, detailed further below: without it, customs clearance is blocked. Outside these cases, Gabon does not require a general import license (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024).

PROGEC, Gabon's conformity assessment program run by AGANOR, the Gabonese standards agency, has made pre-shipment inspection mandatory since February 2016 for any shipment of 3,000 euros FOB or more, excluding food (HS 01 to 24) and pharmaceuticals (HS 30) (cotecna.com, accessed September 27, 2026). Four bodies are mandated to carry out the assessment on AGANOR's behalf: Cotecna, SGS, Intertek and Bureau Veritas (sgs.com; intertek.com, accessed September 27, 2026).

The cost depends on how regular the shipments are: 0.53% of the FOB value for a one-off shipment, minimum 300 euros; 0.45% for regular, homogeneous shipments, minimum 300 euros; 0.27% for a regular high-volume flow, minimum 220 euros; common cap of 7,000 euros (cotecna.com, accessed September 27, 2026). Response within 24 hours, certificate issued within 48 hours after document review and, if needed, inspection (cotecna.com, accessed September 27, 2026).

Two categories are banned from import into Gabon: sugar and eggs (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024). Weapons and ammunition remain under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, and used vehicles older than five years are banned, except under diplomatic exemption (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024). This age limit also applies to a Chinese vehicle: only a new or recent model clears customs without a waiver. Outside these exceptions, Gabon allows all product categories, subject to the documents already mentioned.

The autonomous port of Owendo, near Libreville, handles the country's container traffic. In the 2025 edition of the Container Port Performance Index, published June 10, 2026 by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence, Owendo ranks 24th in Africa and 300th worldwide, with a score of minus 19.7, a marked improvement from minus 50 in 2023 (gabonmediatime.com, accessed September 27, 2026). The study attributes this score to the predominance of import flows, which complicates container yard management and creates structural congestion, rather than to a handling problem; vessel port-call time now stands at twenty-four to forty-eight hours (fr.infosgabon.com, accessed September 27, 2026).

From southern China, freight most often departs from Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Yantian to Owendo, as full container load or consolidated cargo; transit time should be confirmed case by case with the freight forwarder, in the absence of a verifiable official source. Air freight, via Libreville, remains reserved for urgent shipments. For a first order, FOB at the Chinese port with a Gabonese freight forwarder leaves the buyer in control of transport; DDP requires a third party to act as the official importer, a role Sorva never takes on.

Gabon uses the CEMAC zone's CFA franc, pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of about 656 francs per euro (trade.gov, updated March 7, 2024); payments to a Chinese factory are settled in US dollars or yuan, exclusively to the supplier's business account, never to a personal account. A change of bank details received by email should be verified with a direct call before any transfer.

A first order follows a stable sequence: specifications, factory research and verification, approved sample, proforma invoice with the chosen incoterm, deposit to the business account, production follow-up, pre-shipment inspection combined with PROGEC if needed, freight to Owendo, then customs clearance by the client or their freight forwarder, the only party authorized to act as official importer in Gabon.

Sorva is a sourcing and trading house between China and the world, based in Guangzhou's Tianhe district, backed by a Chinese subsidiary whose corporate purpose covers purchasing, resale and export of goods, and by a parent company in France. Our Mandarin-speaking team researches and verifies factories, organizes visits and samples, negotiates, arranges quality control before loading and organizes freight to Owendo, gathering the documents needed for your customs file and, where applicable, for PROGEC certification. We never act as the official importer in Gabon, we do not clear customs locally, and we do not export vehicles without a licensed Chinese exporter. Base offer in US dollars, regional options on request. Contact: WhatsApp +33 6 15 55 62 52, [email protected].