(Business in Cameroon) - Starting from the 2022 fiscal year, honey and pepper will become exempt from export duties in Cameroon. That exemption is consecrated by article 9 of the 2022 finance bill passed by President Paul Biya. Before that exemption law, the two products were in the category of products (like Arabic gum, rice, palm oil, kola nut, millet, sorghum, and eru leaves) subjected to a 5% export duty.

The two products, Penja Pepper and Oku honey notably, are special to Cameroon. They are labeled by the African Intelectual Property Organization (OAPI), therefore becoming geographical indications, which are “signs that identify a product as originating from the territory, region, or locality from which it comes from. They can only be delivered if the quality, reputation, or any other characteristic of the said product is essentially linked to the geographical origin indicated.”

This exemption could dynamize the pepper and honey sectors since producers will be subjected to less tax burden. 

Sylvain Andzongo