WAIVER REQUIREMENTS
ECTN
Electronic Cargo Tracking Note
The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country located on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by 2 countries: in the South-East by LIBERIA and in the North-East by GUINEA.
The Sierra Leone Ports Authority in 2002 issued a decree that requires all sea cargo destined for their country to have a Cargo Tracking Note (CTN).
Some shipping lines may not load cargo without the CTN number.
Port
- FREETOWN
Documents and Informations required
- Bill of Lading or booking confirmation from the Shipping line
- Commercial invoice: currency must be mentioned in $ or €
- Freight charges in the same currency as mentioned on the commercial invoice
- H.S. code
- ETS & ETA
- Country of Origin of the goods
- Custom document
Additional information
- It is not mandatory to mention a CTN number for Sierra Leone on the Master Bill of Lading
- A pre-validated ECTN document should be completed and validated within 5 working days. If not, the ECTN will be cancelled. All costs involved will be for the applicant’s account.
Procedure
- Submit the required documents by email or online.
- You will be sent a draft for pre-validation and an invoice, typically within the same day.
- Once your payment has been received and you approve the draft, a validation will be sent with the CTN number.
Timeline
- The ECTN must be validated before the vessel arrives at the destination.
- The CTN is validated by the authorities in the destination country, the process from submitting a request to final validation can take more than 3 days.
Penalties
- Cargo arriving without a Cargo Tracking Note may be subject of fines and delays.