Togo: Government Impose Rule on Fish and Poultry Importers to Boost Local Production

Economic governance

Friday, 28 February 2025 14:37

Togo: Government Impose Rule on Fish and Poultry Importers to Boost Local Production

(Togo First) - Togo has introduced a new rule for importers of fish, poultry meat, and related products. Effective February 20, 2025, importers must buy at least 10% of their requested quantity from local suppliers before they can get permission to import. This rule was announced by the Ministry of Fisheries and Animal Resources.

According to the Ministry, the measure aims to support local producers, improve food security and reduce reliance on imports.

The move also aims to help local producers who do not produce enough to meet local demand and struggle to find local buyers.

The government seeks to drive up local production through the recent measure. The move also aims to help better organize these industries. Similar rules were tried before for poultry imports, but they were hard to enforce.

This article was initially published in French by Esaïe Edoh

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

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In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

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Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

To improve its business environment, Togo introduced some important reforms related to the payment of tax and duties. From the replacement of some taxes to the cancellation of others through exemptions, the country has only one objective: offer the most attractive tax framework to investors and economic operators. To achieve this, the authorities relied on digitization.