RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.17
15March 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-0561)
Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services Original: French
COMMUNICATION FROM CÔTED'IVOIRE
Response toQuestionnaire onMaritime Transport Services
Thefollowing communication iscirculated attherequest ofCôted'Ivoire toMembers ofthe
Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services.
_______________
I. Market structure
Vessels
1. Structure ofthenationally-owned oroperated fleet.
STRUCTURE OFNATIONALLY-OWNED OROPERATED FLEET
Types ofvessels Number ofvessels Deadweight tonnage
(DWT) in1993
(allflags) National flag Foreign flag
Oiltankers*0 46 3,704,041
Gascarriers 0 7 25,713
Chemical tankers 0 0 0
Combination carriers 0 209 2,508,537
Ore/bulk carriers 0 181 1,713,980
General cargo 11 540 4,641,767
Container ships 0 248 4,815,388
Specialized cargo 0 110 875,769
Ro-ro 1 0 3,645,838
Ferries andpassenger 0 0
Other 0 100 1,190,480
TOTAL 12 1,411 23,121,513
N.B.: - Thedatacontained intheabove table concerns thePortofAbidjan only.
- Dataconcerning theportofSanPedro isunavailable; however, thetotaltraffic (import-export) forthat
portin1993 amounted to1,064,500 tonnes.
* Thefigure inthenational flagcolumn refers totheactual number ofnationally-owned oroperated vessels,
whereas thefigure intheforeign flagcolumn concerns theentry ofvessels only.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.17
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Trade
2. Percentage oftotalinternational trade carried bysea:approximately 90percent.
3. International trade carried byseain1993: 12,932,896 tonnes.
Imports: 6,679,417 tonnes, i.e.51.6percentoftotalinternational trade carried bysea.
Exports: 4,990,149 tonnes, i.e.48.4percentoftotalinternational trade carried bysea.
4. About 70to80percentofregular linercargo iscarried byforeign-flag vessels. Theshare
oftraffic carried bynational-flag vessels is2,305,000 tonnes, i.e.20to30percentoftotaltradecarried
bysea.About 95percentofbulkcargo (liquid andsolid) iscarried byforeign-flag vessels.
About 90percentofhome trading (cabotage) iscarried byforeign-flag vessels.
Practically 100percentoffresh fruit(pineapples, bananas) iscarried byforeign-flag vessels
(about 50percentbythenational shipping company SITRAM and50percentbyforeign shipping
companies).
1993 -linershipping: 44,180,936 m3
drybulk: 7,328,996 m3
fresh fruit: 324,934 m3
liquid bulk: 11,128,572 m3
5. Total volume ofhome trading in1994: 76,854.041 tonnes.
Share carried bynational-flag vessels: 43,083.665 tonnes, i.e.56percent.
Share carried byforeign shipping companies: 33,770.376 tonnes, i.e.44percent.
Organization ofcargo
6. Volume carried bylinershipping, drybulkshipping andliquid bulkshipping fortheportof
Abidjan in1993: 62,638,204 m3.
7. Estimated share oflinershipping carried outbyconferences andconsortia: 30to40percent.
8. Same as7.
9. Nocargo iscarried byregular linershipping under bilateral agreements thatarenotbased
ontheprovisions oftheCode ofConduct. Refrigerated cargo iscarried ontheprinciple ofa50percent
participation fornational shipping companies.
10. Estimated share ofcontainerized cargo (tonnage) for1993: 2,057,896 tonnes.
11. There isnolinercargo carried bymeans ofmultimodal transport arrangements.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.17
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Ports andauxiliary services
12. National porttraffic (PAA +PASP) amounts toapproximately 11,639,637 tonnes for1994.
Thevolume ofinter-port traffic totals 10,000 tonnes.
International traffic represents thedifference between thetwofigures of11,629,607, i.e.
approximately 99.8percentofnational porttraffic.
13. Yes,foralloftheabove-mentioned services.
14. Yes.
II. Regulatory structure
General
1. Theinstitutional arrangements applying tothemaritime transport sector aremany andvaried,
andtaketheform oflegislative andregulatory provisions ofwhich themost important are:
- LawNo.75/497 of10July1975 approving theConvention onaCode ofConduct
forLiner Conferences;
- Decree No.75/617 of3September 1975 ontheorganization ofmaritime traffic in
Côted'Ivoire.
2. Theprinciple of50percentparticipation ofnational shipping companies.
3. Approach based ontheprovisions oftheCode concerning the40/40/20 cargo distribution.
4. (a) No,noformal provisions concerning multimodal transport.
(b) There arenorestrictions onmultimodal transport. Withrespect totheexamples listed
inquestion 4,there arenoregulations currently inforce.
5. Public service activities, including pilotage andtugassistance, areunder theresponsibility of
theportauthorities.
Auxiliary services areinthehands ofprivate operators.
Theexercise ofthese activities issubject toapproval bytheMinister incharge ofmerchant
shipping.
6. International maritime transport (ocean-going) isunderstood tobethetransport ofpassengers
andcargo byseabetween aportlocated ontheterritory ofonecountry andaportlocated ontheterritory
ofanother country. Itexcludes maritime transport between portsofthemember States oftheMCWCS
(Ministerial Conference ofWest andCentral African States onMaritime Transport), considered to
besub-regional cabotage.
7. Thenational definition of"national shipping enterprise" corresponds tothedefinition provided
bytheCode ofConduct forLiner Conferences.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.17
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Market access
8. (a) No,noformal provisions limiting market access. However, theestablishment ofa
firmsupplying auxiliary services inCôted'Ivoire requires anauthorization.
(b) No.
(c) Application oftheCode ofConduct andthe40/40/20 ruleofdistribution.
(d) There arenospecific provisions forthemaritime transport service sector orauxiliary
maritime services. Thegeneral measures apply inthatrespect.
Inrespect ofmaritime work specifically, theruleapplied torecognized Côted'Ivoire shipping
companies isasfollows:
- Officers -100percentCôted'Ivoire nationals;
- Crew -75percentCôted'Ivoire nationals;
- 25percentforeigners onthebasis ofreciprocity.
(d) (i) Same as8(d).
Nomeasures fixing keypersonnel for(d)and(d)(i).
9. Nospecific measures.
(a) Notbound: drafttextinpreparation.
(b) Notbound.
10. Nolimitonforeign capital.
11. (a) No.
(b) No.
(c) Yes,theservicesuppliermustprovidedocumentationcertifyingCôted'Ivoirenationality
delivered byCustoms, together witharegistration certificate delivered bytheMaritime
Authority.
National treatment
12. (a) There arenomeasures which discriminate infavour ofnational maritime transport
services orservice suppliers.
(b) There hasbeenverylittleStateintervention onbehalf ofnational shipping companies.
There isnopreferential taxtreatment orreimbursement tonational shipping enterprises
oftaxes levied oninternational services.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.17
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Access toanduseofportfacilities
13. Allofthelisted services areavailable totheuserinCôted'Ivoire ports.
14. Only pilotage andtugassistance services aremandatory andoffered round theclock forall
vessels ofanettonnage exceeding 150tonnes, withtheexception ofwarvessels belonging tothe
Côted'Ivoire, totheEntente Council andtoStates forwhom equivalent rights arerecognized.
15. None oftheservices areprovided onadiscriminatory basis.
16.
17. Nodiscriminatory measures.
18.
19. Such measures, where theyexist, areapplied bytheGovernment.
Most-favoured-nation treatment
20. Yes,these measures apply toallcategories oftraffic.
21. These measures areapplied within theframework ofbilateral agreements, onthebasis of
40/40/20 cargo sharing forlinertraffic and50/50 forspecialized cargo/bulk andrefrigerated carriers.
Examples ofthecountries covered: France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Germany.
22. (a) TheCode ofConduct doesnotapply tobulk.
(b) Yes,there areGovernment measures which apply thisprovision.
23. No.
24. There isnopreferential treatment withtheexception ofwarehouse facilities granted totwo
land-locked countries (Burkina FasoandMali).
25. No,butsuchmeasures would befullyjustified incaseofneed.
26. Same as25.
Government procurement
27. Non-commercial cargoes, withtheexception ofmilitary cargoes, maybedefined inthe
Côted'Ivoire asthose which playastrategic roleinthenational economy (e.g.coffee andcocoa).
There arenomeasures relating toaccess ofnon-commercial cargoes. Theonlymeasures that
existarethose relating tocargo shares.
28. There arenomeasures relating totheprocurement ofmaritime transport auxiliary services.
Theprinciple ofcompetition applies. There isnoreserved market.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.17
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Competition law
29. There isnolegislation currently inforceregarding competition inthemaritime transport sector.
Thisisoneofthemajor projects oftheMaritime Authority.
Shipping conferences
30. Admission toandwithdrawal from aparticular conference issubject onlytothree months '
notice andisotherwise unrestricted.
31. Atthenational level, thepublic authorities provide fornoofficial procedure withrespect to
conferenceagreements,butmustsimplybeinformedoftheirconclusion.However,theEuropeanUnion
isinformed ofconference agreements.
Conference agreements aretheexclusive responsibility ofthecompanies. TheStatedoesnot
intervene toapply anyparticular criteria. Tariffs arefiled.
32. Thesetting oftariffs isnegotiated between theconferences andtheUnion ofAfrican Shipping
Councils. Theresulting tariffs areindicative. Companies areentitled togrant discounts, butmay
notraisethese tariffs, which areconsidered maximum tariffs.
Themonitoring entity, i.e.theCouncil ofShippers, hasthepower toensure andenforce
compliance withtariffs which havebeenfiled.
33. Yes,ifitmeans lowering therates.
No,ifitmeans increasing therates. Anyincrease issubject toconsultation, which takes place
every year.
34. (a) These arecommercial arrangements between conferences andshippers without the
involvement ofthepublic authorities.
(b) Such agreements donotexistontheWest African coast.
(c) Service contracts between conferences andshippers areacommercial practice which
doesnotinvolve theState.
Shipper/carrier relations
35. Thearrangements existing between shippers andcarriers areofacommercial nature.
36. Theterms andconditions forthesupply ofservices aredetermined byrelations between the
twoparties. Tariff increases mustbesettled bynegotiation andconsultation. Disputes aresettled either
through arbitration, orbefore thecourts.
TheGovernment plays anarbitrational role.