Congo - Kinshasa

Foreign-exchange regulation (Réglementation du change 2014 as amended in 2025 and 2026): EB export declarations, repatriation deadlines, FX monitoring fee 2‰, registration (immatriculation) of comptoirs before their agrément (arts 21-22); approves marchés boursiers with the Minister (Code art. 128; Règlement art. 266); since 19-20 Feb 2026 buys gold from DRC Gold Trading SA for reserves, and its reserve gold is exempt from the EB/IB declaration (Règlement 001/26).

Grants and registers mining rights (exploration permits, exploitation permits, small-scale exploitation permits)

State certification authority: expertise, analysis, valuation and certification of precious minerals including gold; traceability; issues the certificate of origin at export and, with the Minister, the ICGLR certificate; prepares export valuation tables (valeur mercuriale); controls export packaging and escorts shipments; fights mining fraud; publishes statistics (Décret 11/28, arts 4-5) Present at every artisanal purchase in a comptoir or processing entity and drafts the countersigned bon d'achat (AM 2503/2007 art. 4); organises optional tenders (AM 00049/2022).

Website

https://ceec.cd

Financial intelligence unit (Loi 22/068 arts 12-13): receives suspicious-transaction reports (art. 92, replaced by Loi 25/048) and systematic threshold reports (art. 92 bis).

Created by AIM 0719/2010 & 140/2010: coordinates state agencies against mining fraud and smuggling; database of fraud networks.

Export customs declaration (Code des douanes arts 112-113), export duties (art. 309), surveillance of the rayon des douanes and repression of smuggling (arts 20, 389-393); with CEEC, the import authority under the ICGLR arrêté (AM 0057/2012 art. 13).

Collects non-tax revenues including mining royalty shares and administrative fees

Regional Certification Mechanism for gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten; certificate format and exclusion criteria

Mining policy; institutes artisanal exploitation zones by arrêté (Code art. 109); approves comptoirs (art. 120: one year, renewable) and comptoir buyers (Règlement arts 258-265); authorises cooperative processing (art. 113); with the DG CEEC is the certification authority for the certificate of origin (AM 2503/2007 art. 9) and the ICGLR certificate (AM 0057/2012 art. 13); with the BCC approves marchés boursiers (art. 128).

Pre-export inspection: rapport du lot prêt à l'exportation before the EB declaration and Certificat de Vérification à l'Exportation et à l'Embarquement (CVEE) before goods leave (BCC Réglementation du change 2014 arts 1, 25, 30).

The provincial Minister of Mines issues cartes d'exploitant artisanal and cartes de négociant (Code arts 111 bis, 117 al. 2) after the conformity opinion of the Chef de Division provinciale des Mines (Règlement arts 224-231, 243-249) and may withdraw them (Code arts 114, 119); négociants file a monthly activity report with the provincial Minister and the Division (Règlement art. 250). Appeals against acts of the Chef de Division go to the Governor (Règlement art. 572).

Supervision of artisanal and small-scale mining; cooperatives send it monthly statistics (Code art. 114 bis); one of the services present in trading centres (AM 00879/2022 art. 8).

Rate table for artisanal minerals: for gold, card fees, comptoir redevance USD 50,000 and caution USD 25,000, taxe rémunératoire 1.25% of export value (CEEC 65%, CTCPM 18%, SAESSCAM 5%, OCC 1%, OFIDA 4%, Trésor 7%), 1% taxe d'intérêt commun for ETDs, export duty row (0.5% probable for gold).

Citation

JO n° 20 du 15 octobre 2008

Kind

Other

In force from

2008-08-22

Only exploitation-right holders, processing entities and approved comptoirs may export (art. 2); annex valuation table for gold by fineness.

Kind

Other

In force from

2021-09-17

Repealed on

2023-08-04

Same export rule (art. 2); annex gold table: teneur à appliquer and taux de valorisation by fineness band (e.g. 97.01-99.99% gives 1 Au / 1).

Kind

Other

In force from

2023-08-04

Repealed on

2026-06-29

Optional CEEC-run tenders for precious substances incl. gold; the winning bidder pays CEEC 1% of the sale price within 7 working days (art. 8); 5% penalty and permanent ban on default (art. 20).

Kind

Other

In force from

2022-02-22

Gold (raw, refined or transformed) exported or imported by the BCC or its mandataire for the official reserves is exempt from the EB/IB declaration; refining abroad and deposit with a non-resident custodian bank are part of reserve building.

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2026-08-17

Cash cap USD 10,000 at the border (art. 3); EB declaration before every export (art. 23, replaced in 2026) with certificate of origin and expertise certificate (art. 25); OCC CVEE and customs exit proof to the bank within 10 working days (art. 30); proceeds of artisanal gold within 20 days of exit, other goods 60 days (art. 32); BCC registration of comptoirs before agrément (arts 21-22); FX monitoring fee 2‰ (arts 14, 78); mining right-holders' accounts and quotas (arts 73-79).

Citation

JO numéro spécial du 28 mars 2014

Kind

Regulation

Base text amended, not repealed, by Loi 18/001; unamended articles still apply (e.g. arts 116, 220, 234 al. 1). Original royalty 2.5% for precious metals on sales value net of transport, analysis, insurance and marketing costs (arts 240-241), split 60/25/15 (art. 242).

Citation

Leganet transcription; no JO reference printed

Kind

Act

In force from

2002-07-11

SEC issuers must disclose gold originating in the DRC or adjoining countries and file a conflict minerals report

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2012-11-13

EU importers of gold above 100 kg a year must apply OECD-based due diligence; eastern DRC is a CAHRA

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2017-07-09

ICGLR certificate required for gold exports from member states

Kind

Treaty

In force from

2006-12-15

Export duty 0.5% on artisanal/non-monetary gold and 3% on industrial gold

Citation

Loi de finances n° 24/011 du 20 décembre 2024 pour l'exercice 2025 (number and date as cited in Loi 25/060 art. 10)

Kind

Act

In force from

2025-01-01

Art. 10 keeps the customs measures of the 2025 Finance Act (arts 11-21) and LFR 2025 (arts 6-7) in force; revenue annex lists the taxe ad valorem on each artisanal gold export (27 011 300), comptoir approval redevance and caution, and an "Or artisanal" export-duty line (17 152 140).

Kind

Act

In force from

2026-01-01

Defines fraud and smuggling (export/import outside official points); creates CNLFM; prime de contentieux.

Kind

Other

In force from

2010-10-20

Validated sites (art. 5), supply only from certified sites (art. 7), OECD due diligence (art. 8), certificate content (art. 12), certification authority = Minister and DG CEEC (art. 13), application (art. 14), instruction (art. 15), validity 45 days (art. 16), seizure (art. 19).

Kind

Other

In force from

2012-02-29

Trading centres are public services set up by provincial arrêté (art. 4); services present (art. 8) and approved operators incl. cooperatives, négociants, comptoirs (art. 9); only Code-based taxes may be collected there (art. 12); due diligence (art. 13).

Kind

Other

In force from

2022-02-02

Purchases at the comptoir in the presence of a CEEC agent with a countersigned bon d'achat (art. 4); sampling on requisition (arts 5-7); certificat d'analyse et d'évaluation (art. 8); certificate of origin in three parts with minimum fields (art. 9), issued only when duties are paid (art. 10).

Kind

Other

In force from

2007-02-05

Assujettis include négociants en pierres et métaux précieux and CEEC (art. 2 pts 10, 14); cash payments of USD 10,000 or more barred, the BCC may exempt comptoirs (art. 23); cross-border cash declaration from USD 10,000 (art. 25); CDD, STR (art. 92), CENAREF (arts 12-13). Amended by Loi 25/048.

Kind

Act

DNFBPs incl. négociants en pierres et métaux précieux must be registered or licensed (art. 70); dealers apply CDD and STR duties from USD 15,000 (art. 72); systematic reporting of transactions at the art. 23 and art. 72 thresholds (art. 92 bis); virtual-asset activity banned (art. 22 bis).

Kind

Act

In force from

2025-07-01

Individuals may not move USD 10,000 or more in cash between towns/territories that have banks; banks need prior BCC authorisation to convoy such sums (arts 1-2).

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2025-04-16

Export declaration (arts 112-113) through a licensed customs broker when acting for others (arts 115-116); embarkation only at customs ports/airports (arts 140-141); contrebande (art. 393) and penalties (arts 389-391); export customs debt born at registration of the declaration (art. 309).

Kind

Ordinance

Artisanal channel (arts 5, 26, 109-128), CEEC definition (art. 1 pt 9 bis), treatment in the DRC (art. 108 bis), transport/commercialisation (arts 108 sexies-octies, 115), royalty (arts 240-242), superprofit tax (art. 251 bis), export-fee cap (art. 234 al. 3), FX (arts 266-272 bis), penalties (arts 299-311 quater), 5-year stability (art. 342 bis). Loi 18/001 in force at promulgation (its art. 32).

Citation

JO n° spécial du 28 mars 2018

Kind

Act

In force from

2018-03-09

Rewrites Règlement minier art. 526: royalty notes de perception at 44% central government, 23% province, 14% ETD, 11% FONAREV, 8% FOMIN.

Kind

Decree

In force from

2023-08-26

CEEC missions (art. 5); resources incl. 65% of the taxe rémunératoire à l'exportation des substances minérales précieuses ou semi-précieuses (art. 7 a) and expertise fees of 1% of value on industrial exports (art. 7 c).

Kind

Decree

In force from

2011-06-07

Art. 25: FONAREV receives 11% of the mining royalty - 6 points from the State share, 2 from the province, 1 from the ETD and 2 from FOMIN - "conformément aux dispositions de l'article 242" of the Mining Code; art. 56 repeals contrary provisions.

Kind

Act

Artisanal cards (arts 224-231), négociants (arts 242-250), acheteurs of comptoirs (arts 258-265), marchés boursiers (arts 266-268), centres de négoce (art. 25 octies decies), traceability office and production data (arts 25 sexies, 25 vecies), royalty declaration and payment (arts 523-526), superprofit (art. 530 bis), comptoir tax list (art. 537), FX (arts 546-560), mercury ban (art. 575).

Citation

JO n° spécial du 12 juin 2018

Kind

Decree

In force from

2018-06-08

Held by

Négociant (card-holding trader)

Issued by

Competent supervisory authority or self-regulatory body (not designated in the texts held)

Held by

DRC Gold Trading SA (state gold trader)

Issued by

Government of the DRC (Portefeuille) and BCC

BCC registration letter (also required in the comptoir agrément file, Code art. 123)

Held by

Comptoir d'achat et de vente (approved buying and export house)

Issued by

Banque Centrale du Congo (Direction in charge of exchange operations)

Carte d'exploitant artisanal

Held by

Artisanal miner (exploitant artisanal, card holder)

Issued by

Ministre provincial des Mines, after the conformity opinion of the Chef de Division provinciale des Mines

Valid for

One year, renewable without limit (Code art. 111 bis)

Fee

USD 25 for gold (AIM 0495/2008 annex A.1; 2008 amount, later revisions not checked); fixed fee set by regulation (Code art. 111 bis)

Carte de négociant

Held by

Négociant (card-holding trader)

Issued by

Ministre provincial des Mines, after the conformity opinion of the Chef de Division provinciale des Mines

Fee

Gold: category A USD 1,500, category B USD 250 (AIM 0495/2008 annex A.2; 2008 amounts)

Arrêté d'agrément

Held by

Comptoir d'achat et de vente (approved buying and export house)

Issued by

Minister of Mines

Valid for

Un an, renewable without limit (Code art. 120 al. 3 in the original text, not replaced by the amending law)

Fee

Redevance annuelle anticipative paid to the Trésor on approval and at each renewal, and a caution (Code minier, comptoir article as amended; Règlement minier, artisanal fiscal regime). The amounts are fixed per substance in the annex table of the arrêté interministériel Mines/Finances on the artisanal fiscal regime (see legalBasis); that table gives one currency for the whole table, not beside each figure, so they are not held as amounts here; a later arrêté of the Mines and Finances ministers that probably replaced those rates is not held.

Buyer card

Held by

Comptoir d'achat et de vente (approved buying and export house)

Issued by

Minister of Mines (application at the Direction des Mines between 1 January and 1 March)

Valid for

One year, renewable (Règlement art. 259)

Fee

USD 1,000 per buyer; USD 7,500 per supplementary buyer from the 11th (AIM 0495/2008 annex A.3; 2008 amounts)

RCCM extract; NIF

Held by

Comptoir d'achat et de vente (approved buying and export house)

Issued by

Guichet unique / tax administration

Arrêté d'agrément

Held by

Approved mining cooperative (coopérative minière agréée)

Issued by

Minister of Mines (application filed at the Division provinciale des Mines; decision notified to SAEMAPE and the Cadastre minier)

Fee

Droit fixe on approval (Code minier, cooperative article as amended); the Règlement minier lists a taxe d'agrément and a redevance annuelle anticipative for the maintenance of a cooperative's validity, and leaves their amount to a joint arrêté interministériel of the Mines and Finances ministers. That arrêté is not held, so no amount is held.

Cooperative membership record

Held by

Artisanal miner (exploitant artisanal, card holder)

Issued by

Cooperative

Held by

Comptoir d'achat et de vente (approved buying and export house)

Issued by

Banque Centrale du Congo and Minister of Mines

Permis d'exploitation certificate

Held by

Industrial mining company (exploitation-permit holder)

Issued by

Minister of Mines, registered by the Cadastre Minier

Site qualification report and site code

Held by

Approved mining cooperative (coopérative minière agréée)

Issued by

Ministry of Mines (sites validated by arrêté ministériel)

Arrêté instituting the ZEA

Held by

Approved mining cooperative (coopérative minière agréée)

Issued by

Minister of Mines (arrêté delimiting the ZEA)

Exports of artisanal gold

Rate

7% of the 1.25% taxe rémunératoire (about 0.0875% of value)

Paid by

Approved comptoir

Collected by

DGRAD (LF 2026 line 27 011 300)

Artisanal and non-monetary gold in powder and unwrought forms, 90% to 99.99% gold

Rate

0.5%

Base

Customs value of the export

Paid by

Exporter (comptoir or state trader)

Collected by

DGDA

Gold in raw, unwrought and semi-manufactured forms, non-monetary, from industrial production

Rate

3%

Base

Customs value of the export

Paid by

Industrial producer

Collected by

DGDA

Exports of artisanal gold

Rate

1.25% of export value (gold)

Base

Value at export

Paid by

Approved comptoir (exporter of artisanal gold)

Collected by

Collected and distributed by CEEC (AIM 0495/2008 art. 10): CEEC 65%, CTCPM 18%, SAESSCAM 5%, OCC 1%, OFIDA (customs) 4%, Treasury via DGRAD 7%

Transactions in gold and diamonds

Rate

1%

Paid by

Approved comptoir

Collected by

Entités territoriales décentralisées (AIM 0495/2008 annex C)

Precious metals (art. 241 e)

Rate

3.5%

Base

Valeur commerciale brute (art. 240), defined as the average international quotation of the previous month (art. 1 pt 55 bis); due when the product leaves the extraction or processing site (art. 240; Règlement art. 525)

Paid by

Holders of exploitation permits (incl. small-mine and tailings permits) and approved processing entities (art. 240)

Collected by

Paid per beneficiary: 50% central government, 25% province, 15% ETD, 10% FOMIN (art. 242; Règlement art. 526)

Precious metals (art. 241, 2002)

Rate

2.5%

Base

Sales value less transport, analysis, insurance and marketing costs (art. 240, 2002)

Paid by

Holder of the exploitation title

Collected by

Treasury, redistributed 60% central government, 25% province, 15% town or territory (art. 242, 2002)

Precious metals (Code art. 241 e)

Rate

3.5%

Base

Valeur commerciale brute (Code art. 240)

Paid by

Holders of exploitation permits and approved processing entities

Collected by

Notes de perception per beneficiary: 44% central government, 23% province, 14% ETD, 11% FONAREV, 8% FOMIN (Règlement art. 526 as rewritten by Décret 23/32)

Profits when commodity prices rise more than 25% above those in the bankable feasibility study (art. 251 bis)

Rate

50%

Base

Excess gross operating surplus over the bankable feasibility study figure plus 25% (Règlement art. 530 bis)

Paid by

Industrial mining companies

Collected by

DGI

Exported gold is zero-rated; domestic sales to the BCC not specifically addressed

Rate

16% standard; 0% on exports

Paid by

Seller

Collected by

DGI

Each lot submitted for export

Rate

Industrial exports: 1% of value (Décret 11/28 art. 7 c); tenders: 1% of the sale price paid by the buyer (AM 00049/2022 art. 8); other tariffs by arrêté

Paid by

Exporter

Collected by

CEEC

Rate

Gold comptoir: redevance annuelle anticipative USD 50,000; caution USD 25,000; buyer approval USD 1,000 each, USD 7,500 per buyer from the 11th (AIM 0495/2008 annex A.3)

Paid by

Comptoir

Collected by

Treasury (DGRAD)

Rate

0.2% (2‰)

Base

Foreign payments and transfers (general); for mining right-holders, 100% of each export (BCC art. 78)

Paid by

Any party to a foreign-exchange operation; mining right-holders on exports and account movements

Collected by

Banque Centrale du Congo (through approved banks)

Kind

Other

Kind

State monopoly

Valid from

2026-02-19

Kind

Origin marking

Kind

Conflict-area due diligence

Threshold

100 kg per year (gold, CN 7108)

Valid from

2021-01-01

Kind

Currency control

Threshold

20 days (artisanal gold); 45 days receipt and 15 days repatriation (right-holders)

Kind

Conflict-area due diligence

Kind

Local refining requirement

Kind

Sanctions

Kind

Conflict-area due diligence

Valid from

2013-01-01

Kind

Cash limit

Threshold

USD 10,000

Kind

Cross-border declaration

Threshold

USD 10,000

Kind

Anti-money laundering

Threshold

USD 15,000

Valid from

2025-07-01

Kind

Anti-money laundering

Valid from

2022-10-21

Kind

Cross-border declaration

Kind

Other

Kind

Other

Official artisanal gold exports collapsed after Primera Gold stopped buying in mid-2024 and M23 took Bukavu in February 2025; South Kivu was over 90% of the 2023-24 volume.

Figures: 5.18 t (2023); 1.75 t (2024); c. 2.5 t declared artisanal output (2025); 200 kg in January 2025; 2026 target 15 t

Industrial production dominates declared output; Kibali was 88.2% of gold export revenue in Q1 2024.

Figures: 2023: production 34,526 kg (US$2,367m); exports 34,904 kg (US$1,427m)

Undeclared eastern DRC gold leaves mainly via Uganda (Kampala) and Rwanda, less via Burundi, and is re-exported largely to the UAE.

Figures: Uganda declared 62 t of gold exports (US$6.4bn) in 2024 against 2-3 t domestic output; 60% of Uganda's, 95% of Rwanda's and 99% of Burundi's gold exports go to the UAE (2022)

[conflict] Code art. 5 (as amended 2018) lets an artisanal card holder market output only through his cooperative, while art. 116 (2002 wording, not amended) still lets 'les exploitants artisanaux' sell to négociants, marchés boursiers, comptoirs or state-approved/state-created bodies. Art. 5 is the later rule.

[conflict] Export duty on industrial gold versus the Mining Code: art. 234 al. 1 (2002, not amended) exempts the titulaire from all customs duties and other contributions on exports linked to the mining project; art. 234 al. 3 (2018) caps export service fees at 1% of gross commercial value; art. 220 makes the Code's fiscal and customs regime exclusive of any other present or future tax; art. 342 bis guarantees the Code's fiscal, customs and FX regime for 5 years against later legislative change. PwC reports a 3% export duty on industrial gold from the 2025 Finance Act, kept in force for 2026 (Loi 25/060 art. 10). Which prevails for a given producer is not settled in the texts held.

[conflict] Repatriation quotas for mining right-holders: BCC Réglementation du change 2014 arts 76-77 let the right-holder keep 60% of export proceeds in the foreign principal account and repatriate 40% within 15 days, whereas Code art. 269 (2018) lets it keep 40% and requires 60% to be repatriated within 15 days during amortisation (100% afterwards), and Règlement art. 550 caps repatriation at 60 days. The 2014 BCC text was not amended on this point in the BCC texts held (2025, 2026).

In Ituri (Djugu, Mahagi) almost all mining sites are controlled by CODECO/URDPC or Zaïre; national and provincial parliamentarians running illegal mechanised mining paid CODECO US$10,000 a month each; gold goes to Kampala via Aru, Mahagi and Butembo-Kasindi, inflating Uganda's refining and export figures; Bunia had a single official comptoir. Official Ituri exports were just over half a tonne in 2025.

Figures: S/2025/446 paras 158-168

AFC/M23 took Goma (January 2025) and Bukavu (February 2025) and runs a parallel administration and taxation; DRC Gold Trading suspended buying in Bukavu on 11 March 2025. The Group of Experts found smuggling to Rwanda from AFC/M23 areas at unprecedented levels, threatening traceability integrity.

Primera Gold DRC (Dec 2022 - 2024) held exclusive artisanal buying rights in South Kivu; researchers found gold sourced from areas with armed groups, child labour and dredging in protected forests, and no ICGLR audit of its activity.

Royalty allocation changed without amending Code art. 242: Loi 22/065 (26 Dec 2022) art. 25 gives FONAREV 11% of the royalty (6 points from the State, 2 from the province, 1 from the ETD, 2 from FOMIN), and Décret 23/32 rewrites Règlement art. 526 to 44/23/14/11/8. Code art. 242 as printed (50/25/15/10) and FOMIN's statutes (Décret 19/17 art. 6: 10%) were not updated. The later law prevails.

The US sanctioned a Rwandan refinery for processing illegally extracted Congolese gold (reported as Gasabo Gold Refinery, 2025).

Only about 20-30% of an estimated 40 t of annual artisanal production enters the legal circuit; the rest is smuggled to Uganda, Rwanda and Dubai.

Export values declared by the industrial producer are well below market: CEEC data show Kibali at US$46,215/kg in H1 2024 against US$64,502/kg for Primera and US$59,500/kg for artisanal exporters; EITI 2023 shows exports of 34.9 t valued at US$1.43bn (c. US$41,000/kg).

Figures: Kibali US$46,215/kg vs Primera US$64,502/kg (H1 2024)