Database

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CAMEROON

N/A

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Adoption of UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce
Lack of adoption of UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce
Cameroon has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.
Coverage Horizontal

CAMEROON

Since December 2018, enter into force in March 2019
Since June 2019

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Restrictions on online payments
Regulation No. 02/18/CEMAC/UMAC/CM of 21 December 2018 on foreign exchange regulations in CEMAC (Règlement No. 02/18/CEMAC/UMAC/CM du 21 décembre 2018 portant réglementation des changes dans la CEMAC)

Instruction No. 8/GR/2019 on the conditions and modalities for use of electronic payment instrument outside CEMAC (Instruction No. 008/GR/2019 relative aux conditions et modalités d'utilisation à l'extérieur de la CEMAC des instruments de paiement électronique)
According to the Instruction No. 8/GR/2019 issued by the Governor of the Bank of Central African States to facilitate the interpretation and implementation of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) Regulation 02/18/CEMAC/UMAC/CM, for the remote settlement of transactions, including online payments, the limit is 1 million XAF (approx. USD 1,700) per month and per person. According to Arts. 7-8 above this limit, justification needs to be provided before or after operation within 30 days by any means providing acknowledgment thereof. The Instruction provides guidance on the provision of Art. 34 of the Regulation, which implements certain limits for the use of electronic payment instruments outside the CEMAC and applies to the six CEMAC member states, including Cameroon.
Coverage Electronic payment instruments

CAMEROON

N/A

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Threshold for ‘De Minimis’ rule
Lack of de minimis threshold
Cameroon does not implement any de minimis threshold, which is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties. However, it is reported that there is an informal threshold of between USD 50 and USD 400.
Coverage Horizontal

CAMEROON

Since December 2010
Since December 2010

Pillar Technical standards applied to ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Restrictions on encryption standards
Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 Relating to Cybersecurity and Cyber Criminality in Cameroon

Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 Regulating Electronic Communications in Cameroon
Section 58 of Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 Regulating Electronic Communications in Cameroon requires authorisation for the supply, export, import or use of cryptography means or services, although the requirements do not apply to cryptographic functions which are integrated into application software used by users. Under the law, criminal investigation officers and authorised officials may require the decryption of encrypted data by specified persons as authorised by the State Counsel, an examining judge or a court. They may also require communication service providers to comply with these requests, except where they are unable to satisfy such requests. The use of encryption to commit a crime and refusal to ‘hand over the convention to judicial authorities in such cases is punishable by imprisonment, a high financial penalty, or both. Section 7(2) of Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 Relating to Cybersecurity and Cyber Criminality in Cameroon says that the National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ANTIC) shall be “responsible for the regulation, control and monitoring of activities related to the security of electronic communication networks, information systems, and electronic certification on behalf of the State” and that one of its missions is to “examine applications for the certification of cryptographic means”.
Coverage Cryptography means and services

CAMEROON

Since December 2010

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Export restrictions on ICT goods, products and online services
Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 Regulating Electronic Communications in Cameroon
According to Section 58 of Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 Regulating Electronic Communications in Cameroon, the authorisation for the supply, export, import or use of cryptography means or services is required, although the requirements do not apply to cryptographic functions which are integrated into application software used by users.
Coverage Cryptography means and services

CAMEROON

Since July 2015

Pillar Technical standards applied to ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Self-certification for product safety
Decree No. 2015/1875 / PM of 01 July 2015 establishing and fixing the modalities of implementation of the Conformity Assessment Program before Embarkation of goods (PECAE) imported into the Republic of Cameroon
According to Article 4 (1) of the Decree No. 2015/1875 / PM of 01 July 2015 establishing and fixing the modalities of implementation of the Conformity Assessment Program before Embarkation of goods (PECAE) imported into the Republic of Cameroon, the Pre-Shipment Conformity Assessment Program for goods imported into the Republic of Cameroon (PECAE) involves some of the following activities: auditing, surveillance, inspection, analysis, testing and certification. According to Article 8, ICT goods are part of the goods which are subject to the pre-shipment conformity assessment.
Cameroon does not recognize self-certification, but does not require foreign suppliers to undergo testing in a local laboratory. There are three-way of certification under the Pre-Shipment Conformity Assessment Program for goods imported into the Republic of Cameroon (PECAE) are as follows:
- Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) laboratories;
- Third party ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory;
- Supplier laboratory provided that the test results are detailed as per the corresponding standard, that the laboratory holds a recognized quality certification system (such as ISO 9001..etc) and that the list of the equipment (model, serial number...etc) with the corresponding calibration records and are supplied to demonstrate laboratory capabilities for testing.
Coverage ICT goods

CAMEROON

Since December 2010

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Other import restrictions, including non-transparent/discriminatory import procedures
Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 Regulating Electronic Communications in Cameroon
According to Section 58 of Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 Regulating Electronic Communications in Cameroon, the authorisation for the supply, export, import or use of cryptography means or services is required, although the requirements do not apply to cryptographic functions which are integrated into application software used by users.
Coverage Cryptography means and services

CAMEROON

Reported in 2017 and 2018

Pillar Content access  |  Sub-pillar Blocking or filtering of commercial web content
Cases of blocking of web content
It is reported that access to social networks such as Twitter, Whatsapp, and Facebook was cut off in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon in September/October 2017. In addition, evidence suggests that Facebook and WhatsApp were throttled the day before the country’s 2018 election results were released. On the other hand, although meant to fight against cybercrime, it is reported that Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 relating to Cybersecurity and Criminality has been used to censor and monitor communications during periods of severe political crisis and to fight against misinformation and hate speech online.
Coverage Social networks

CAMEROON

Reported in 2022

Pillar Content access  |  Sub-pillar Presence of Internet shutdowns
Presence of Internet shutdowns
The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in Cameroon. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."
Coverage Horizontal

CAMEROON

Since December 2006

Pillar Content access  |  Sub-pillar Restrictions on online advertising
Law No. 2006/018 of 29 December 2006 to regulate advertising in Cameroon
According to Art. 13 of Law No. 2006/018, foreign operators wishing to carry out any advertising activity in the territory of Cameroon must conclude an agreement of representation to this effect with a Cameroonian operator duly approved for the advertising profession concerned. This also applies to online advertising.
Coverage Advertising sector

CAMEROON

Since December 2010

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar Safe harbor for intermediaries for any activity other than copyright infringement
Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Cameroon
Cameroon has a safe harbour regime in place for intermediaries beyond copyright infringements. Art. 34 (2) of Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Cameroon stipulates that intermediaries (defined anyone who, even free of charge, stores signals, writings, images, sounds or messages of any kind provided by the recipients of these services) are not liable in the following cases:
- They were not effectively aware of their unlawful nature or of facts and circumstances showing this nature;
- If, from the moment they learned of the facts, they acted promptly to remove this data or make it impossible to access it.
Coverage Internet intermediaries

CAMEROON

Since December 2010

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar User identity requirement
Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 governing electronic communications in Cameroon
According to Art. 55 of Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 governing electronic communications in Cameroon, operators of electronic communications networks open to the public, as well as service providers, are required at the time of any subscription to proceed to register the identification of subscribers and terminals.
Coverage Telecommunications sector

CAMEROON

Since December 2010

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar Monitoring requirement
Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Cameroon
In accordance with Art. 25 (2) of Law No. 2010/012 of December 2010 relating to cybersecurity and cybercrime in Cameroon, network operators and service providers of electronic communications services must put in place mechanisms to monitor the data traffic of their networks. This data can be consulted during judicial inquiries.
Coverage Internet intermediaries

CAMEROON

Since December 2010

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar Safe harbor for intermediaries for copyright infringement
Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Cameroon
Cameroon has a safe harbour regime in place for intermediaries for copyright infringements. Art. 34 (2) of Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Cameroon stipulates that intermediaries (defined anyone who, even free of charge, stores signals, writings, images, sounds or messages of any kind provided by the recipients of these services) are not liable in the following cases:
- They were not effectively aware of their unlawful nature or of facts and circumstances showing this nature;
- If, from the moment they learned of the facts, they acted promptly to remove this data or make it impossible to access it.
Coverage Internet intermediaries

CAMEROON

N/A

Pillar Cross-border data policies  |  Sub-pillar Participation in trade agreements committing to open cross-border data flows
Lack of participation in agreements with binding commitments on data flows
Cameroon has not joined any free trade agreement committing to open transfers of cross-border data flows.
Coverage Horizontal