Importing from China to Togo: customs, VAT and Lomé port in 2026

According to Togo's 2024 trade surveillance report, published by Togo's Ministry of Commerce and UEMOA, China remains Togo's leading supplier outside the UEMOA zone, accounting for 20 to 22% of Togolese imports in 2023, the most recent official data available. Manufactured goods made up 65.7% of Togo's non-UEMOA imports that year, far ahead of agricultural products (19.0%) and fuels (14.9%); the most imported items included refined petroleum oils, passenger cars, medicines and motorcycles, according to INSEED.

The Autonomous Port of Lomé, the only deep-water port in the sub-region with a draft of 16.60 metres and operating 24 hours a day, also serves Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and ranks as the fifth-largest African port by container volume handled, according to the US government's commercial guide and the port's official website.

Togo has applied the CEDEAO common external tariff since 1 January 2015, as it does for any goods from outside CEDEAO or UEMOA, including China. Since 1 January 2024, the updated version of this tariff, the TEC CEDEAO 2022, has applied within Togo's customs system, according to Togo's 2024 trade surveillance report. No bilateral free trade agreement between Togo and China was identified in our sources: Chinese origin therefore does not open the door to any tariff reduction.

The OTR (Office Togolais des Recettes) manages tax collection, customs and land registry, with the Port of Lomé's customs services available around the clock. Since March 2025, the Togo Trade Portal has centralised access to the licences, permits and certificates required for thirteen priority products.

The CEDEAO common external tariff splits goods into five bands: 0% for essential goods, 5% for raw materials and capital equipment, 10% for intermediate goods, 20% for everyday consumer goods, and 35% for a list of sensitive products, according to the US government's commercial guide. The OMC's tariff profile puts the 2025 average applied duty at 12.0% across all goods, 15.7% for agricultural products and 11.5% for non-agricultural products.

On top of this, applied to the CIF value: a statistical levy (RS) of 1%, all origins; a UEMOA community solidarity levy (PCS) of 1% for goods from outside UEMOA, such as China; a CEDEAO community levy (PC), 0.5% in principle but collected at 1% since 2005, for goods from outside CEDEAO. These three rates come from a 2017 OTR report, an older document to have reconfirmed by the OTR before you build your budget. Togo ended its import verification contracts (PVI) and brought this control in-house at the OTR from January 2020: no separate verification fee is therefore charged. The 18% VAT is calculated on the CIF value plus these duties.

Example for the 20% band, CIF value 10,000,000 FCFA: customs duty 2,000,000, RS 100,000, PCS 100,000, PC 100,000, VAT base 12,300,000 FCFA. VAT at 18%: 2,214,000 FCFA. Total duties and taxes therefore come to 4,514,000 FCFA, just over 45% of the CIF value.

Togo's 2024 trade surveillance report lists six documents required at the customs cordon for imports: commercial invoice, transport document, electronic cargo tracking note (BESC), certificate of origin, import declaration above 10,000,000 FCFA FOB value, and a special permit for regulated goods. The US government's commercial guide adds a health or phytosanitary certificate, depending on the product. The OTR requires the certificate of origin to carry a valid reference number, prepared by the Chinese exporter before shipment.

Procedures are going digital: the Togo Trade Portal shows the documents required by product, and the OTR offers the e-Services and Dimana portals for declarations and payments. A licensed customs broker remains the most common way to handle a first shipment.

The ATN (Agence Togolaise de Normalisation), under the HAUQE (Haute Autorité de la Qualité et de l'Environnement), runs Togo's standards system. Togo is a member of ARSO and a corresponding member of ISO; most technical regulations are built at the UEMOA regional level.

Togo's approach targets risk rather than systematic testing: mandatory tests and certificates only apply to products sensitive for health or safety, against recognised Togolese or international standards. Our sources report no general pre-shipment inspection programme in Togo: check with the ATN before production. In 2012, Togo notified the OMC of a ban on non-biodegradable plastic packaging.

The US government's commercial guide lists counterfeit goods, hazardous waste, illicit drugs, weapons and ammunition, military equipment, unapproved pharmaceutical, chemical or food products, and unapproved telecommunications equipment among prohibited or heavily restricted goods, along with alcohol and tobacco cited in the same category: exact rules to reconfirm with the OTR.

Poultry and fish have recently come under tighter control: a temporary suspension of frozen poultry in 2024, then ministerial order 0014/2025 of 20 February 2025 requiring a minimum local purchase of 10% of the quantities requested before any import authorisation.

The Port of Lomé, already mentioned above as the fifth-largest African port by container volume, handles most of the containerised freight bound for Togo and the West African hinterland. A China-Africa freight forwarder described it in 2026 as the leading container port in Sub-Saharan Africa, a figure from a private source to confirm with the port.

From southern China, the same forwarder quoted in May 2026 an indicative transit time of 33 to 44 days for full container load and 34 to 48 days for less-than-container load to Lomé, with direct services from Shenzhen or Guangzhou recommended, to reconfirm with a freight forwarder. An FOB Incoterm leaves the buyer in control of transport; CFR or CIF suit cases where an intermediary arranges it. DDP is not recommended as long as the Chinese seller is not a registered customs declarant in Togo.

The CFA franc remains pegged to the euro, but a payment to a Chinese supplier involves conversion into dollars or yuan, subject to BCEAO exchange regulations. Regulation No. 06/2024/CM/UEMOA of 20 December 2024 raised the mandatory bank domiciliation threshold for an import from 10 to 20 million FCFA. Always pay the supplier into its business account, never a personal account, and verify by direct phone call any change of bank details received by email.

A first order follows a classic sequence: specifications, a verified supplier, an approved sample, proforma invoice, deposit, production follow-up, pre-shipment inspection if useful, documents gathered, declaration through the OTR, then customs clearance in Lomé by the client or their broker. A Togo-specific point of caution: check the exact regime for your product before ordering, particularly for poultry, fish or any goods subject to a special permit.

Sorva is a sourcing and trading house based in Guangzhou, in the Tianhe district, backed by a Chinese subsidiary whose corporate purpose covers buying, reselling and exporting, and by a parent company in France. For a Togolese client, our Chinese-speaking team finds and vets factories, negotiates, approves samples, arranges quality control and organises freight to Lomé, without ever standing in for you as the importer of record in Togo or clearing customs on arrival. Our base offer is invoiced in dollars outside the European Union.