Circular to Approved Intermediaries No. 2026-4 of March 26, 2026

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Tunis, March 26, 2026
CIRCULAR TO APPROVED INTERMEDIARIES
No. 2026-4
Subject: Financing conditions for the importation of non-priority products.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia,
Having regard to the Foreign Exchange and External Trade Code promulgated by Law No. 76-18 of January 21, 1976, consolidating and codifying the foreign exchange and external trade legislation governing relations between Tunisia and foreign countries, as amended by subsequent texts and notably the decree-law No. 2011-98 of October 24, 2011, Having regard to Law No. 2016-35 of April 25, 2016, establishing the status of the Central Bank of Tunisia, Having regard to Law No. 2016-48 of July 11, 2016, concerning banks and financial institutions, Having regard to Decree No. 77-608 of July 17, 1977, setting the implementation conditions for the aforementioned Foreign Exchange and External Trade Code, as amended by subsequent texts and notably Government Decree No. 2017-393 of March 28, 2017, Having regard to Circular to Approved Intermediaries No. 94-14 of September 14, 1994, concerning the financial settlement of imports and exports of goods, as amended by subsequent texts and notably Circular No. 2025-13 of October 27, 2025, Having regard to the correspondence from the Ministry of Commerce and Export Development dated December 23, 2025, concerning products considered non-priority,

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Having regard to the opinion of the Compliance Control Committee No. 2026-4 dated March 26, 2026, as provided for in Article 42 of Law No. 2016-35 of April 25, 2016, establishing the status of the Central Bank of Tunisia and notably its second paragraph concerning circulars having an urgent character. Decides:
Article 1: Approved intermediaries may not make financial facilities available to their clients for the financing of imports of products considered non-priority, listed in the annex to this circular, unless importers establish deposits from their own funds covering the total value of the envisaged imports.
This obligation applies regardless of the financial settlement method for said imports, notably through a letter of credit, documentary collection, bank transfer, or bill of exchange, endorsed or unendorsed.
Article 2: The financial facilities referred to in Article 1 of this circular encompass all forms of financing, notably credits, advances, documentary credits, as well as bank guarantees, regardless of their nature.
The own funds referred to in Article 1 of this circular are understood as cash deposits made by the importer with the approved intermediary in accordance with prevailing legislation.
Article 3: Prior to any domiciliation, the approved intermediary must carry out all necessary verifications to ensure strict compliance with prevailing regulations. In this regard, it is responsible notably for verifying the accuracy of the general product nomenclature codes pertaining to the products to be imported.
Article 4: The following operations are excluded from the scope of application of the provisions of Article 1 of this circular:

• product imports carried out under public contracts concluded in favor of the State, companies and public institutions, as well as local authorities;

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• imports that, prior to the effective date of this circular, have resulted in commitments taken by the approved intermediary for granting financial facilities, whose execution has effectively commenced;
• imports carried out by industrial companies, subject to the submission by said companies of a special technical sheet intended for the approved intermediary, issued by the competent services of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, attesting that the imported product is directly linked to the company's activity;
• imports carried out under the active processing regime, subject to the submission by the importer of the authorization issued by the competent customs services to benefit from this regime.
  Article 5: This circular takes effect as of the date of its publication.
  The Governor,
  Fethi Zouhaier NOURI