The Democratic Republic of Congo is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) scheme for least developed countries. With a per-capita income of $ 610 in 2022, the World Bank classifies the Democratic Republic of Congo as a low-income economy. Preferential imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo amounted to only about € 600.000 in 2022, less than 1% of eligible imports made use of EBA preferences.
The “Everything but Arms”(EBA) scheme is a permanent arrangement covering Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) as classified by the United Nations. This arrangement enables duty-free and quota-free access for all products (7200 products in total) originating in LDC’s except for arms and ammunition. Different from the Standard GSP and GSP+, LDC’s are not excluded from the scheme if they benefit from other preferential arrangements.
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The Democratic Republic of Congo is considered the world’s richest country in terms of wealth in natural resources. Most of the raw mineral deposits remain untapped and are worth an estimated $24 trillion. These deposits include the world’s largest coltan reserves and considerable amounts of cobalt.
Congo's most important export products are refined and unrefined copper, cobalt mattes and ores, gold, and petroleum oils. The most important agricultural export product are cocoa beans.
Congo's most important trading partners are China, South Africa, and Singapore. China, Singapore and South Africa are the most important export markets for Congolese products and absorb about 73% of overall exports.
The economy is mainly driven by mineral extraction including copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, diamonds, and others. The manufacturing sector only contributes a small share to Congo's GDP and centres around consumption industries (processed food and beverages, cigarettes, cloth, leather,..) and supply industries (including spinning and weaving, chemicals, and machinery)
Currently less than 1% of total EU imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo are imported using EBA preferences. The preference utilisation rate, which represents the ratio of preferential imports to GSP eligible imports, currently stands at 12.4%.
Total trade with the EU amounted to € 4,530 million in 2022. With a share of 1 %, the EU only plays a minor role in Congo's total trade and as an export market. Imports from the EU, however, are of higher importance and amounted to € 1,559 million in 2023, making it the third most important import market.
Less than 1% of the Democratic Republic of Congo's exports to the EU market are eligible for EBA preferences.
The Democratic Republic of Congo currently has a very low preference utilisation rate of 12.4%.
Despite a constantly improving preference utilisation rate throughout the years and a record increase in eligible products in 2018, only a fraction of total imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo is imported using EBA preferences. The increase in eligible imports can be attributed to increased export volumes of cobalt oxides, which are almost entirely exported under the EBA. Copper and diamonds account for the majority of exports but already benefit from zero most favoured nation duties. In 2020, only fruits and vegetables and prepared foodstuffs were imported using EBA preferences, though the utilisation rate was at 1.3%. In 2022 the rate improved by 10%.
Exports under the EBA remain highly concentrated on few products. The Democratic Republic of Congo traditionally exports mainly processed foods and beverages, mineral and agricultural products using EBA preferences.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, as a beneficiary of the EBA scheme, is not obligated to ratify any conventions to be able to benefit from preferential access to the European market. Nonetheless, Congo has ratified all 15 core international conventions on human and labour rights. This includes 7 UN human rights conventions and 8 ILO conventions on labour standards. Additionally, Congo has ratified 8 conventions on environmental protection and 4 conventions on good governance aspects.
Access all info about EU-Democratic Republic of Congo relations on the International Partnerships website: https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/countries/democratic-republic-congo_en