Faced with regular changes in world trade, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Niger interconnect their management system. The aim is to harmonise procedures at border posts to remove barriers to trade.

The Directors General of the Customs administrations of Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Burkina Faso were in Abidjan on Tuesday, June 22 for the signing of the related documents. The 3 countries have put in place a legal framework to coordinate the implementation of a project called the Interconnected Rail Transit Goods Management System (SIGMAT). It aims to simplify customs procedures for goods in transit transported by rail. The project, already being implemented between these 3 countries for goods transported by road, has the main objectives of facilitating trade, securing transit procedures and combating customs fraud.

The project contributes to strengthening regional integration, has benefited from the financial and technical support of the World Bank, the European Union, German Cooperation, Dutch Cooperation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The States Parties to the Agreement envisage, in the long term, the achievement of an interconnection of their Customs IT systems in order to better manage the specificities related to the Customs practices and provisions in force in each of them.