This year's Annual Review reports strong financial results, continued strategic progress and enhanced support for shipowners operating in an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment.
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Club correspondent Budd Group brings us this update:
In accordance with the Togolese Customs Code (Law n° 2018-007), undeclared transfers or bartering with local fishermen in Togolese waters can result in substantial Customs fines. The most recent cases involve fines ranging from €120,000 to €400,000,000 — alongside vessel detention and prison sentences of between 3 months and 3 years for involved crew members.
Recommendations for Masters & Vessel Operators
STRICT ZERO-BARTERING POLICY: strictly instruct all crew members that exchanging, gifting, trading, or disposing of any items (sludge, scrap, ropes, food, water, or fuel) with local craft at anchorage is strictly prohibited.
PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED APPROACHES: keep all unauthorized local craft away from the vessel. Log, photograph, and report any unauthorized approaches to harbor authorities and local agents immediately.
SEEK P&I ASSISTANCE: if approached by Togolese Customs or presented with a Procès-Verbal (PV), contact BUDD Togo immediately before before signing any official documentation.
Read Budd Group’s full article here.
Club correspondent Budd Group brings us this update:
In three known cases, following requests from fishermen, vessels at anchorage gave them small quantities of low value items such as barrels of sludge, bottles of water, or scrap in exchange for seafood or sim cards.
In each case, the fishermen were arrested on their return to the port of Lomé and gave their accounts of the facts to the police before the vessels were detained.
After preventing them from sailing, Customs told the vessels that they were liable for fines of somewhere between €60 million and €130 million on the grounds that their informal transactions constituted smuggling.
In all known cases to date, Customs refused to:
discuss the fines unless the fine demand documents (“Procès Verbal de Constat” or “PV”) were signed by a party with a formal mandate to speak on behalf of the vessel’; or
allow the signee to add standard disclaimers such as “Without Prejudice” or “For Receipt Only”.
On the one occasion that a disclaimer was used, it was after weeks of discussions with Customs. During this time, the vessel remained under detention and no negotiations regarding the amount of the fine could start.
The reason these smuggling fines are so high is that they are calculated according to:
the value of the items that were exchanged
plus twice the estimated values of all the vessels involved
plus Customs duties of between 28% and 49% on both the articles exchanged and the estimated values of the vessels.
The Fine Demands from Customs refer to the following articles of the Togolese Customs Code (Law n° 2018-007), which have been translated into English by Budd Togo:
Article 60 – Paragraph 2
No goods can be discharged or transferred without written authorisation from Customs. Discharge and transfer operations must take place in the presence of Customs at the times and under the conditions decided by the General Commissioner.
Article 340 – Paragraph 1
Captains of ships, boats, vessels and aircraft are considered liable for any omissions or inexact information found in their cargo manifests and, generally speaking, for any infringements committed on board their vessel or aircraft.
Article 372 – Paragraph 1
The following are deemed imports without declaration of prohibited goods:
fraudulent disembarkation of articles cited in article 369, paragraph 2;
Article 369 – Paragraph 2
The following are deemed to be undeclared imports: Those items which are prohibited or heavily taxed on entry or liable to internal taxes discovered on board ships within the limits of commercial ports or roads which were not duly included in the cargo and the ship’s store declarations presented before inspection.
Article 359 – Paragraph 1
The following offences are punishable by confiscation of the object of fraud, confiscation of the means of transport, confiscation of objects used to conceal the fraud, a fine equal to double the value of the object of fraud and imprisonment of between three months and one year any act of smuggling as well as any act of import or export without declaration when these offences relate to goods in the category of those which are prohibited or heavily taxed on entry, or prohibited or taxed on exit.
The term of imprisonment is increased to a maximum of ten years and the fine may be up to five times the value of the object of the fraud when the acts of smuggling, importing or exporting concern goods that are dangerous to public health, morals or safety, the list of which is determined by order of the Minister of Finance.
The original French language texts can be found at Togo-Customs-Code-PV-clauses.pdf (budd-pni.com).
Budd Togo recommends avoiding bartering any items whatsoever, even at anchorage – you never know who is watching – and to immediately contact your P&I Correspondent if your vessel faces difficulties with Customs.
Read Budd Group’s full article here.
