Are you fed up with the amount of banned items (like Marijuana, Tramol and other dangerous items) entering Cameroon and want it to stop???
Maybe you don’t like the bribery and corruption in the Customs sector or are fed up with the high number of importers evading tax in Cameroon.
Becoming a customs officer in Cameroon could be a good career path for you.
Customs officers in Cameroon are in charge of stopping banned items from entering or leaving the country, and also collect taxes & duties.
In this article you are going to learn how to become a customs officer in Cameroon.
But before we delve in to the main topic, let me first of all list some of the duties of customs officer in Cameroon.
What does a customs officer in Cameroon do?
As customs officer in Cameroon, also known as a detection officer, you would work in airports and seaports collecting customs duties and preventing smuggling and illegal trade.
Depending on your rank as a Customs officer in Cameroon (custom ranks in Cameroon), you might be expected to perform the following duties…
- Search luggage, vehicles and body search travelers
- Question people who have been found with illegal items or goods over the allowance.
- Check customs documents
- Arrest and charge people
- Prepare reports and witness statements
- Take on specialist roles such as dog handling or undercover and Surveillance work
- When necessary, you would go to court as a witness and would work Closely with other agencies, like the police and the Home Office.
Ok now that you have read the duties of a Cameroon customs officer and are fully convinced that you are up to the task, let move to the million dollar question.
How to become a customs officer in Cameroon???
The procedures to become a customs officer in Cameroon are pretty simple.
To become a customs officer in Cameroon, you will need to write a competitive entrance examination (Concour for Customs officer in Cameroon).
The minimum academic qualification to write the concour for customs officers is just GCE O level or its equivalent. No special subjects required to get into custom service in Cameroon.
However, you must be a French and English literate. Those with a good mastery of the French language, will have an upper hand (for reasons we all know). You also need to be physically fit.
Keep in mind that the age limit for Customs concours in cameroon is 45. If you meet the basic requirements listed above, then you are fit to write the concours for custom officers.
In my opinion, the custom department doesn’t focus on high academic qualifications because the competitive entrance examination (Concour) itself, is enough to separate the wheat from the chaff.
It’s also important to keep in mind that for you to be able to perform the duties of a customs officer in Cameroon, the following skills (in my opinion) are very essential for every customs officer.
3 Essential skills for customs officers in Cameroon
1) Attention to detail (As you need to be vigilant at the borders)
2) Good communication skill
3) Teamwork
When will the next Concour for Customs officers be launched in Cameroon???
There’s no fixed interval for the launching of concours for customs officers. Just like other government sectors, concours are only launched when need be.
You just need to keep abreast with the news on the Cameroon customs website to ensure that you don’t miss out on any any Concour launch. There’s a section for HOT NEWS on the Cameroon customs website where the latest activities of the customs sector are published.
Cameroon concours blogs like Kamerpower regular publishes news about newly launched concours in cameroon 2020/2021.
When a new concour is launched, most TV stations in Cameroon will also announce it.
You can easily keep abreast with newly launched concours for customs officers in the Facebook groups.
Contents to read while preparing to take the Customs Concour in Cameroon.
Read about the duties of the Customs officers and the importance of the custom sector in Cameroon.
You can find tons of materials at the Cameroon customs official website. If possible, attend preparatory classes in Cameroon for customs concours.
Popular opinion also holds that for a person to increase his or her probability of passing the concour for the selection and training of wanna-be customs officers in Cameroon, you must have a God father in the government or have strong connection with God. I don’t want to go in to the nitty-gritty of this matter as it a phenomenom almost every Cameroonian is aware of.
What next??? after passing the Concour for customs officers in Cameroon.
You would be trained on the job through a mixture of in-house training and learning from experienced staff. Training usually lasts around nine months, and may include some residential training courses.
After undergoing training, you will be integrated in to the custom sector.
Where could I be working ? (as a Cameroon customs officer)
You would be based at airports and seaports. You would also travel to court when necessary.
IMPORTANCE OF THE CUSTOMS SECTOR IN CAMEROON
1) THE CUSTOMS SECTOR IN CAMEROON GENERATES TONS OF CASH FOR THE CAMEROON GOVERNMENT EVERY YEAR.
The Cameroonian customs sector is one of the engines of the state budget. The revenue gathered in this sector help the government to run the state.
The customs sector in Cameroon general generates billions of cash via the following taxes
– Excise duty on which certain products are subject;
– VAT or Value Added Tax;
– The TEC or Common External Tariff…
Cameroon customs is thus one of the levers of the economy.
2) CAMEROON CUSTOMS, FACILITATE INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
Cameroon customs sector is designed to facilitate international trade and security by ensuring that fake or dangerous items are not smuggled to other countries.
3) CAMEROON CUSTOMS SECTOR PROTECTS HOME INDUSTRIES AND CONSUMERS.
Cameroon customs sector protects the Cameroon economy and home industries by controlling the amount of products entering and leaving the country. This is done by levying import and export taxes on items.
How the Cameroon customs sector protects the home industries from competition in the market.
If an item is produced locally, then its imported equivalent is subject to a tax, the purpose of which is to balance the prices of the two items so that local items continue to sell.
When a high tax is levied on an imported item, this will discourage importers from bring in that item in to the country. With limited foreign products in the market. The home industries will easily sell their products in the Cameroon market….read more about custom duties via this link How is customs duties calculated in Cameroon.
On the otherhand if the home industries are charging high prices for their products due to monopoly, the Cameroon customs sector can levy a low tax on its imported equivalent to encourage importers to import more of that item and this will cause the home industries to adjust their price to normal.
How the Cameroon customs sector protects consumers.
If a locally produced item is to be exported, then it is subject to a tax aimed at retaining it within national borders for the full benefit of domestic consumers.
4) CUSTOMS HELP TO FACILITATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
As we said above, the Cameroonian customs system was designed to facilitate international trade. The customs sector also attract foreign investors and those that already exist to invest in Cameroon. To this end, an investment code has been established which grants a wide range of benefits to investors (exemptions, split payments, active and passive processing, drawback, etc.)
5) The CUSTOMS SECTOR PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE SMOOTH RUNNING OF OTHER GOVERNMENT SECTORS.
Due to its location at the borders, customs appears to be a powerful tool in the application of specific laws and regulations. This role benefits certain administrations such as the Ministry of Public Health or the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Industry and even certain para-public bodies.
In the case of the Ministry of Public Health, the customs officers in Cameroon help in prohibiting the entry of a certain product or a certain drug, while in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Industry, customs officers helps to protect the agricultural fabric or the livestock from diseases that exist in neighboring countries.
OTHER CUSTOMS MISSIONS
In addition to the objectives identified above, Cameroonian customs play a significant and even preponderant role in various other fields of activity. The services rendered by the customs officers will also be of great help to the border police in the following cases cited by way of example:
– The fight against trafficking in drugs and other narcotics;
– The fight against the trafficking of counterfeit products;
– Protection of the environment against toxic or radioactive waste;
– Control of the importation of war material and other explosive substances.
Its noteworthy that the Cameroon customs sector is headed by Director General of Cameroon Customs; Edwin Fongod Nuvaga (who took office since 21 December 2015 ).
He was officially installed in Yaounde by Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey, Tuesday December 29, 2015.
Born some 53 years ago, Fongod is the second Anglophone to hold the position after Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla.
Appointed by a presidential decree on December 21, 2015, the senior customs inspector (super scale) was until his appointment, chief of the communication department of customs. He takes over from Minette Libom Li Likeng, who was appointed Minister of Posts and Telecommunication on October 2, 2015.
The minister also challenged the new customs boss not only to focus on the collection of revenue but also to ensure the security of the national territory by being vigilant at the borders.
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