Guinea ECTN certificate

Three names, one certificate

Guinea’s cargo tracking note appears under three names in shipping documentation, which causes more confusion here than at most destinations.

ECTN is the generic term. ICTN — International Cargo Tracking Code — appears in Guinean documentation. BSC is used because Guinea is francophone and the regional term carries over.

All three refer to the same document. If your carrier asks for an ICTN and your consignee asks for a BSC, nobody is asking for anything different. The requirement has been in place since Guinean customs introduced it in 2000, making it one of the older regimes in the region.

Everything that comes off a vessel

Guinea’s requirement is unusually broad in cargo type. It covers containers, general cargo, RoRo — anything discharged at the port, not only containerised freight.

At several destinations on this list the requirement attaches specifically to containerised cargo, with break bulk treated separately. Guinea does not make that distinction. If it comes off a vessel at Conakry, it needs a certificate.

The requirement applies to commercial, business, diplomatic and personal shipments alike. There are no category exemptions.

Five days before arrival

The certificate must be validated no later than five days before the vessel arrives. Best practice, and what we work to, is to have it in place before departure — the number is recorded on the Bill of Lading, and that is easier to arrange before the document is finalised than after.

Plan for a week overall. A draft is issued within a day where documents are complete, but all approvals are handled through the main office in Conakry, and that step sets the real pace.

The draft is issued first and must be approved before validation proceeds. The original Bill of Lading is required for final validation, so the draft can start early but the process cannot finish until the original exists.

Contact details for three parties

Guinea asks for more party information than most destinations, and incomplete details hold up validation:

• Shipper — phone and email
• Consignee — phone, email and NIF, the tax identification number
• Notify party — phone, email and NIF

The importer’s NIF is mandatory to complete the procedure. As with several destinations in the region, it belongs to your consignee rather than to you, so ask for it early rather than at filing.

Transit to Mali does not travel on this certificate

Conakry serves as a transit port for the sub-region, and Mali in particular.

The Guinea ECTN covers the discharge at Conakry. It does not cover inland customs clearance at the final destination — cargo continuing to Mali needs Mali’s own certificate as a separate application.

This puts Guinea alongside Benin rather than Cameroon: two documents for transit cargo, not one. Establish the final destination before assuming which applies.

Penalties and amendments

Cargo arriving without a valid certificate, or with incorrect information on one, is charged twice the cost of the certificate plus a regulatory charge set by the Guinean port authorities. Clearance does not proceed until the documentation is in order, with storage and demurrage accruing.

Amendments to a validated certificate also attract penalty charges. Read the draft carefully — it is the only free correction you get.

Ports

Conakry is Guinea’s main commercial port and a significant West African gateway. Kamsar handles bauxite and related traffic. The requirement applies at both.