tradepolicyandpracticebysector.docVIP

trade policy and practice by sector Introduction Cameroonian agriculture has a number of natural assets such as the richness of its soil, a favourable climate and crop diversity. Cameroon is one of the few African countries approaching food security. Agriculture is the most important sector in the poverty reduction strategy, providing employment for about 60 per cent of the population and supplying local industry with a variety of inputs. The Government intends to attract private investment, particularly through privatizations, with the aim of doubling production levels and raising rural incomes between now and 2015. Apart from tariffs, other measures are in place to protect certain areas of activity. For example, chicken imports are currently subject to authorization, quotas and temporary price control measures; and other measures have recently been implemented to stabilize the coffee and cocoa sectors. The main manufacturing segments are foodstuffs, petroleum products, beverages and forestry products. Relatively high customs duties are levied, particularly on imports of manufactured products, where major branches of the sector operate with 30 per cent tariff protection levels. The tariff structure does nothing to encourage investment or to improve competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. As a fillip to the wood processing industry, a number of restrictions in the form of prohibitions or taxes and surcharges are applied to exports of unprocessed logs. Petroleum products are an essential element of the economy and government resources; yet oil production can be expected to decline in the medium term as deposits become depleted. A number of new oilfields have come on stream recently. The adoption of the Petroleum Code in 1999, and adherence to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2005 are among the actions undertaken to attract new investors to the sector. Since 2002, sale prices have been stabilized by the Hydrocarbon Price St