Law n°2020/010 of 20 July 2020 to regulate statistical activity in Cameroon

REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON PEACE - WORK- FATHERLAND
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PRESIDENCE DE lA RHUB
PRESIOENC't' OF= TH
SECIIETAIIIAT G
SUVICl OU FICHIER lEGISl 1
LEGISLATIVI A JA
EE CONFORME
TRUE COPY
2 G Z G / 0 1 O 2 O JU1L 2020LAW No ___________ OF ___________
TO REGULATE STATISTICAL ACTIVITY IN CAMEROON
The Parliament de/iberated and adopted,
the President of the Republic hereby
enacts the /aw set out be/ow:

O REGULATE STATISTICAL ACTIVITY IN CAMEROON
The Parliament de/iberated and adopted,
the President of the Republic hereby
enacts the /aw set out be/ow:

l'RtSIOENCE DE LA RE,UILiQIJf
l'IUSIOENCY OF THE 'REPUBLIC
f
SECIIETAftlAT GENERAL
SEIIVICI! DO FICHIER LEGISLATlf ET � EMEN lftt'. LEGISLATIY( AIID STATUTOU Af�Ul�D INDEX S VICé
co,IE CERTI H'CONFORME
CUITI TRUE COPY
------------------- CHAPTERI
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 1: This law regulates statistical activity in Cameroon. lt lays down the basic principles for producing official statistical data, rules
of professional conduct, the institutional framework for statistical production and
the terms and conditions for coordinating statistical activity. SECTION 2: Within the meaning of this law, the following definitions shall apply:
Statistical activity: all tasks whereby statistical data or statistical information
relating to gender, governance and economic, political, demographic, social and
environmental phenomena, etc.

tistical data or statistical information
relating to gender, governance and economic, political, demographic, social and
environmental phenomena, etc.

are obtainable using a rigorous methodology;
Data collection: operation consisting in gathering required data using various
collection methods and loading them in the appropriate storage medium;
Statistical dissemination: placing at the disposai of the public statistical data
produced by the National Statistical Information System in all the forms
authorized by the regulations in force and with due respect for the privacy of the
natural and legal persans having provided the information used to produce such
data;
lndividual data: any information relating to an identified natural or legal persan
that can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to an identification code or
to one or more elements specific thereto;
Statistical data or statistics: quantified information relating to the life of a
Nation obtained through appropriate processing using statistical methods;
Statistical information: any organized quantitative and/or qualitative information
obtained from statistical data;
Microdata: immediate results obtained from observing statistical characteristics
and variables collected through an observation unit and that have not been
processed statistically;
Statistical production: a process consisting in producing statistical information
through the determination of needs, the design of collection methodology, data
collection, data entry, data processing, the production of results, dissemination
and archiving;
Statistical secrecy: measure helping to ensure that natural or legal persans
providing information to be used for statistical purposes enjoy the respect for the
confidentiality of information on their persona!

or legal persans
providing information to be used for statistical purposes enjoy the respect for the
confidentiality of information on their persona!

and family life, or commercial
secrecy for businesses;
Statistical service: any statistical entity and/or body responsible for producing
and disseminating public statistics at the national, regional and continental levels;
2

: any statistical entity and/or body responsible for producing
and disseminating public statistics at the national, regional and continental levels;
2

,us1tENCE
Official statistics: statistical data produced by services under the National
Statistical Information System;
Data processing: operation consisting in cleansing data obtained from statistical
and non-statistical sources alike in order to organize them in such a way as to
PtuSl!fc�fl CHAPTER Il
1 SEIIVICE OU "CMIEII
llftlUATIVltNDST ION OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS PRODUCTION
---- fi statistics shall be produced under programmes contained in
the National Statistics Development Strategy. SECTION 4: Any national or regional statistical survey requiring the collection
of information from natural and legal persans shall be subject to obtaining a
statistical visa issued under conditions laid down by order of the Minister in
charge of statistics. SECTION 5: Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 4 above, the internai
statistical work of a government service not involving non-staff of such service
shall not be subject to prior approval. SECTION 6: (1) Official statistics producing services and bodies may, under
their responsibility, entrust the collection, processing and analysis of specific
information to private enterprises, bodies or establishments.

under
their responsibility, entrust the collection, processing and analysis of specific
information to private enterprises, bodies or establishments.

(2) The statistical data collection operations conducted within such
framework shall be subject to prior approval. SECTION 7: Entities responsible for producing statistics shall enjoy scientific
independence and perform their functions in accordance with the fundamental
principles of official statistics of the United Nations and the African Charter on
Statistics. SECTION 8: Official or public statistics must be produced in total
transparency, objectivity and impartiality, and according to criteria allowing
their practical use and making them available and accessible to all citizens, in
accordance with the principles of the African Charter on Statistics. SECTION 9: ( 1) Natural and legal persans subject to statistical data collection
operations must be informed through appropriate means of the legal and
institutional framework for statistical data production, in accordance with the
fundamental principles of official statistics of the United Nations and the
African Charter on Statistics.

cal data production, in accordance with the
fundamental principles of official statistics of the United Nations and the
African Charter on Statistics.

(2) They must also be informed of the objectives of statistical surveys
and censuses or other operations conducted, the purpose of data collected,
data collection and processing methods, the mediums and schedule of
dissemination of data collected as well as measures taken to ensure and
guarantee the confidentiality and protection of individual information. 3

e of
dissemination of data collected as well as measures taken to ensure and
guarantee the confidentiality and protection of individual information. 3

SECTION 10: ( 1 ) Access to official statistics shall be open and free for ail
users, subject to respect for the privacy of natural and legal persans whose
information is used to prepare such statistics. (2) The use of official statistics shall be free, provided the source is
indicated. SECTION 11: The integrity of official statistical data must be preserved. _____..... .........__...........,.L---:,:-:-tll�Es'i':1oë'.i
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Ë'i\l'.°i"���r�� . tJ1'alÏ<t ion for unlawful ends shall be prohibited. ' PIH:SlîfcuTAIIIAT GiNUAl . '
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co , ED TIi Ut con INDIVIDUAL DATA PROTECTION
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SECTION 12: Any natural or legal persan involved in the conduct of any
statistical data collection operation shall be bound by statistical secrecy. SECTION 13: lndividual data collected within the framework of statistical data
collection operations may not be disclosed in any way whatsoever, unless
explicitly authorized by the natural or legal persans concerned, in accordance
with the principles of the African Charter on Statistics.

oever, unless
explicitly authorized by the natural or legal persans concerned, in accordance
with the principles of the African Charter on Statistics.

SECTION 14: (1) The nominative information relating to a natural or legal
persan entered in questionnaires during statistical data collection operations
may not be used outside the services responsible for such statistical
operations. (2) Under no circumstances may the individual data collected be used
for purposes other than those for which they were co!lected
(3) However, microdata concerning individual statistical units may, on
the written authorization of the head of the official statistics service or body
concerned, be disseminated in the form of an anonymous file for public use, in
accordance with the conditions of use to be specified in the data transfer
protocol. (4) ln any case, statistical data may not be used for the purposes of
fiscal or criminal prosecution or repression. CHAPTER IV
OBLIGATION OF RESPONDENTS IN STATISTICAL DATA
COLLECTION OPERATIONS
SECTION 15: Natural or legal persans subject to statistical surveys and
censuses shall be bound to respond accurately and within the time-limits set
by the instruments instituting such operations. in accordance with the
principles of the African Charter on Statistics.

and within the time-limits set
by the instruments instituting such operations. in accordance with the
principles of the African Charter on Statistics.

SECTION 16: The legal persans called upon to place administrative files at
the disposai of the relevant statistical services of the National Statistical
4

ION 16: The legal persans called upon to place administrative files at
the disposai of the relevant statistical services of the National Statistical
4

Information System for statistical exploration purposes shall be bound to
provide such files to the said services within 15 (fifteen) days fïom the date of
acknowledgement of receipt of the request submitted by the statistical service. SECTION 17: (1) Where the natural or legal person subject to the statistics
collection operations fails to respond or provides an inaccurate response, a
report shall be drawn up. The same shall apply to legal persons that refused
to provide their administrative files to statistical services to be exploited for
statistical purposes. (2) ln the absence of an accurate and timely response, the competent
authority of the statistical operation shall formally notify the defaulting natural
or legal person by a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt of an
additional time-limit for a response.

mally notify the defaulting natural
or legal person by a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt of an
additional time-limit for a response.

Such time limit may not exceed 1O (ten)
CHAPTERV
(2) ln like manner, any natural or legal persan that has received
protected data and that violates the data transfer protocol shall be liable to a
fine of from 100 000 (one hundred thousand) CFA francs to 1 000 000 (one
million) CFA francs for a natural persan and 0.01% of the turnover or wage bill
for a legal person, without prejudice to other penalties provided for by the laws
in force. SECTION 19: Whoever refuses to participate in statistical surveys and
censuses or makes false statements shall be liable to the following fines:
- between 10 000 CFA francs and 50 000 CFA francs for a natural person;
- 1 % of the turnover of the previous year for a private company or 0.01% of
the wage bill of the previous year for a legal entity with no turnover or a
semi-public entity. CHAPTERVI
NATIONAL STATISTICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
SECTION 20: The National Statistical Information System shall comprise all
the national public and semi-public services and bodies that produce, provide
and disseminate statistical data.

Information System shall comprise all
the national public and semi-public services and bodies that produce, provide
and disseminate statistical data.

SECTION 21: The National Statistical Information System shall be
responsible for the collection, processing and dissemination of official
statistical data for public purposes. 5

SECTION 22: The National Statistical Information System shall be financed
by the State budget and various contributions.
CHAPTER VII
FINAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 23: The conditions for implementing this law shall, as and when
. necessary, be laid down by regulation.
SECTION 24: Ali previous provisions repugnant hereto, particularly those of
Law No. 91/23 of 16 December 1991 relating to censuses and statistical
surveys, are hereby repealed.
SECTION 25: This law shall be registered, published according to the
procedure of urgency, and inserted in the Official Gazette in English and
French./-
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