Importing from China to Mauritania: customs, VAT and ports in 2026

China exported 1.04 billion dollars worth of goods to Mauritania in 2024, according to the United Nations Comtrade database, led by electrical and electronic equipment (98.14 million dollars), machinery (95.84 million), articles of iron or steel (83.65 million), vehicles (81.70 million) and synthetic fibres (81.26 million). China ranked only fifth among Mauritania's suppliers in 2021, behind Spain, the United Arab Emirates, France and Belgium, but its share has risen sharply since, with total bilateral trade topping 2.4 billion dollars in 2024.

Mauritania is not a member of ECOWAS: it withdrew in 2000 to focus on the Arab Maghreb Union, of which it has been a member since 1989, and only gained associate member status with ECOWAS in 2017. Its imports therefore fall outside the ECOWAS common external tariff and under its own national customs tariff instead. It has, however, ratified the AfCFTA on 31 January 2019: this agreement reduces duty between African countries, not on goods coming from China.

No bilateral Mauritania-China agreement lowering import duty was identified. The reverse movement does exist: Mauritania is among the UN's least developed countries, a category for which China has applied zero customs duty on almost all tariff lines since 1 December 2024. This exemption benefits Mauritanian exports to China, not the duty Mauritania charges on goods entering its territory.

The Mauritanian customs tariff applies four ad valorem rates on the customs value: 0% for exempt goods, then 5%, 13% and 20% depending on the tariff line. On top of this, a uniform 1% statistical levy applies to more than 90% of lines. Then comes VAT, at the standard rate of 16%, calculated on the customs value plus duty and the statistical levy; rates of 18% and 20% exist for telecommunications and petroleum products, outside the scope of a standard import.

Example on a customs value of 1,000,000 ouguiyas, at the median rate of 13%: duty 130,000 MRU, statistical levy 10,000 MRU, VAT taxable base 1,140,000 MRU, VAT at 16% 182,400 MRU. The total reaches around 322,400 MRU, a little over 32% of the customs value. The actual rate depends on the exact tariff line: check before ordering, for example on jibaya.tax.

Mauritanian customs clearance relies on the SYDONIA WORLD system, built into a national single electronic window run by a consortium pairing Bureau Veritas and SOGET, which links up customs, ports and businesses. A second window, known as the RTU for single fees and taxes, has centralised payment of non-customs taxes since June 2016, covering the chamber of commerce, the transport authority and the municipality of Nouakchott. Mauritania has 27 customs offices, seven of them specialised, covering mining, fishing, the Nouadhibou free zone and hydrocarbons.

Every import in principle requires authorisation from the Ministry of Trade, a visa not always required at clearance according to the sources consulted. Dual-use products and certain plants are subject to a separate prior authorisation.

The Directorate for Standardisation and Quality Promotion, the DNPQ, under the Ministry of Industry and Mines, acts as the national standards body and Mauritania's contact point with ISO. The sources consulted describe a still thin regulatory framework: we found no official, dated list of products subject to mandatory certification before import, to be checked with the DNPQ for your product.

Used vehicles, long limited to 5 years for passenger cars and 8 years for other uses, can once again be imported with no age limit since 15 January 2021. This point deserves reconfirmation with Mauritanian customs before any shipment, as the rules have already changed several times since 2014.

The autonomous port of Nouakchott, known as the Friendship Port, handled 1,581,740 tonnes in the first quarter of 2026, up 14.2% year on year, and 62,536 TEU containers, up 21.7%. Further north, the port of Nouadhibou, geared towards fishing and ore, handled 500,001 TEU in 2024 and 10 million tonnes of bulk cargo; the expansion of its container terminal, launched in 2025, is set to increase its capacity.

From southern China, containerised freight most often departs from Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Yantian; several freight forwarders quote a sea transit of 38 to 47 days to Nouakchott depending on the service, an order of magnitude to be reconfirmed with your freight forwarder, not a guaranteed timeframe. Air freight is reserved for urgent or light shipments. FOB at the Chinese port, complemented by a Mauritanian broker for the SYDONIA filing, leaves the buyer in control of transport; DDP requires a third party to act as the official importer in Mauritania, a role Sorva never takes on.

Mauritania uses the ouguiya, the MRU, a currency that floats under the management of the Central Bank and is not pegged to the euro like the CFA franc used in neighbouring countries: allow a safety margin on the exchange rate between the proforma invoice and final payment. Payment to the Chinese factory is made in dollars or yuan, exclusively into the company's business account, never a personal account; a change of bank details received by email should be verified with a direct phone call before any transfer.

A first order follows a stable sequence: specifications, factory vetting, an approved sample, a proforma invoice with the chosen Incoterm, a deposit, production monitoring, pre-shipment inspection, freight to Nouakchott or Nouadhibou, then filing with SYDONIA WORLD, a step that remains in the hands of the client or their local customs broker.

Sorva is a sourcing and trading house, from China to the world, our Chinese-speaking team based in Guangzhou, in the Tianhe district, backed by a Chinese subsidiary licensed to buy, resell and export goods, and a parent company in France. For a Mauritanian client, we find and vet factories, arrange visits and samples, negotiate, have quality checked before loading, and organise freight to the chosen port. We never act as the official importer in Mauritania and do not clear goods locally. Our base offer is invoiced in dollars, with regional options quoted on request. Contact: WhatsApp +33 6 15 55 62 52, [email protected].