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World Trade Indicators 2009/10
Democratic Republic of Congo Trade Brief
Trade Policyï€ terms in 2008, making the country’s exports more
competitive.
At 12 percent, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s
average MFN applied tariff is in line with that of an As negotiations between the EU and the Central
average country in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (12.5 Africa group, to which the country belongs, towards a
percent) or an average low-income country (12.7 full Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) could
percent). Based on the MFN applied tariff it ranks not be completed prior to the December 2007
133rd out of 181 countries, where 1st is least restrictive. deadline, the preferences under the Cotonou
Tariff protection for agricultural products is slightly Agreement elapsed. The Democratic Republic of
higher than for non-agricultural products (12.8 percent Congo, however, maintains a similar level of
versus 11.9 percent). The Democratic Republic of preferences to the EU market under the “Everything
Congo’s average MFN applied tariff has remained But Arms� (EBA) initiative for least developed
stable over the past few years at 12 percent. The countries. It continues to negotiate an EPA with the
country’s maximum MFN applied tariff (excluding EU as part of the Central Africa group. The country is
alcohol and tobacco) is 30 percent. As of 2007, its also a member of the Common Market for Eastern
trade policy space, as measured by the wedge between and Southern Africa (COMESA) which established a
bound and applied tariffs (the overhang), was 7.4 customs union in June 2009 and plans to fully
percent. Regarding its commitment to liberalizing implement it by 2012. Further improving the country’s
services trade, it ranks 88th (out of 148) on the GATS market access, the 15-member Southern African
Commitments Index. Development Community (SADC), to which it
belongs, launched a free trade area in August 2008,
To mitigate the impact of increasing global food prices expanding the country’s access to the markets of the
in 2008, the government reduced import taxes. other member states.
External Environment Behind the Border Constraints
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s exports faces With the Democratic Republic of Congo’s business
lower barriers to international markets than its SSA climate left fragile by years of conflict, its Ease of
and low-income comparators, reflected by a weighted Doing Business rank was among the lowest in both
average rest of the world tariff of only 0.2 percent. 2008 and 2009, 182nd out of 183 countries. A measure
Although the country’s agricultural exports face a tariff of the extent of trade facilitation in the country, its
of 4.8 percent, its non-agricultural exports, mainly rank in the Trading Across Borders category is 165th.
composed of diamonds, cobalt and oil, face a much The country has relatively high costs of exporting and
lower tariff of 0.1 percent. The Congolese franc importing and slow processing times, making it less
depreciated by 0.8 percent in real, trade-weighted conducive to trade than its comparators. The average
cost of exporting or importing is over US$2,450 per
container, well above the average for the SSA region.
Unless otherwise indicated, all data are as of August 2009
and are drawn from the World Trade Indicators 2009/10
Trade Outcomes
Database. The database, Country Trade Briefs and Real (in constant 2000 U.S. dollars) trade growth
Trade-at-a-Glance Tables, are available at slowed to 5.7 percent in 2008, compared to 9.4
http://www.worldbank.org/wti. percent in 2007, and is expected to turn negative in
If using information from this brief, please provide the 2009, with trade falling by 4.7 percent. Import growth
following source citation: World Bank. 2010. “Democratic decelerated from 9.2 percent in 2007 to 5.7 percent in
Republic of Congo Trade Brief.� World Trade Indicators 2008. Exports were also hurt by poor performance in
2009/10: Country Trade Briefs. Washington, DC: World the mining sector, the country’s main export sector, as
Bank. Available at http://www.worldbank.org/wti. diamond production fell due to depleted deposits, and
World Trade Indicators 2009/10 The Democratic Republic of Congo Trade Brief
many cobalt and copper mining companies suspended References
or scaled back production in response to falling global
prices. Exports ended up growing at the same rate of African Economic Outlook. 2009. “Congo (DRC).�
5.7 percent as imports in 2008, compared to the much African Economic Outlook. May 27, 2009. .
in 2009, with imports falling by 4.1 percent and Doing Business. 2008. Country Profile for Congo, Dem. Rep.
exports by 5.7 percent. .
In nominal terms, trade growth accelerated from 20.6 COMESA. 2009. “COMESA Launches its Customs
percent in 2007 to an estimated 28.9 percent in 2008. Union.� COMESA. July 24, 2009. .
percent in 2007, outpacing export growth which was Europa. 2009. “Africa, Caribbean, Pacific—Regional
an estimated 14.3 percent, down from 18.6 percent the Negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements.�
previous year. Services export growth underwent a Europa. June 2009. .
estimated 8.7 percent in 2008 and is expected to fall
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
further to 2.3 percent in 2009. Goods export growth,
Nations (FAO). 2008. “Policy Measures Taken by
on the other hand, experienced a less steep decline,
Governments to Reduce the Impact of Soaring
going from 18.3 percent in 2007 to an estimated 14.8
Prices—Africa—Democratic Republic of the
percent in 2008. Goods exports are however expected
to perform worse than services exports in 2009, Congo.� FAO. December 15, 2008. .
to the country in 2008 were 33.1 percent of exports. Southern African Development Community (SADC).
2008. Final Communiqué of the 28th Summit of SADC
Heads of State and Government. SADC. August 2008.
.