…As NCS Partners DG TAXUD for Efficient Export Monitoring
ZAINAB JUNAID
The Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, has reiterated the service commitment to grow the Nigerian economy through enhanced trade facilitation tools leveraging on platforms and policies like the African Continental Free Trade Area(AfCFTA) and the US government backed African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).
CGC Adeniyi who was represented by Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, Customs Area Controller of Apapa Port Command, at the Science of Trade (SOT) Conference organised by Ascend Studios Foundation in partnership with the US Consulate and other groups recently, said the Service is setting the process of perfecting trade procedures within the customs zone.
In a statement signed by CSC Abubakar Usman, spokesman of Apapa Area Command, the CGC emphasized that Nigeria Customs is collaborating with the Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) of the European Union (EU) for efficient export monitoring and trade facilitation.
According to the statement, Adeniyi noted that as part of the NCS outreach program, the service is also working with other agencies of the Nigerian government to maximize the opportunities in trade and reduce the incident of Nigerian goods being returned from countries of destination.
“For traders willing to participate in AGOA, efforts are on for the establishment of a one-stop-shop export seat for export documentation so that it will reduce the time taken for Nigerian exporters to get their goods out of our port,” the CGC said.
He added that programmes like Time Release Studies(TRS), which aimed at knowing exact time it takes a businessman to clear his imported goods from the Port and also geared towards enhancing customs efficiency in Nigeria in line with global best practices.
The exercise, according to him is directed at having a scientific measure of how long and how much it costs businessmen to export their products through NCS control with a view to identifying bureaucratic procedures, or laws that are creating delays so that compliant traders can get their cargoes off the ports, border stations and airports in good time.
He further listed continuous training and retraining of different cadres of customs officers, regular interface with various stakeholders and sustained improvement on technological capacity as part of efforts embarked upon since his assumption of office.
While participating as a panelist during an interactive session, Comptroller Olomu gave detailed analysis of the trade facilitation benefits in the NCS Act 2023 and the ease of doing business advantages as contained in the new customs law.
The CAC Apapa, while urging participants comprising of entrepreneurs, diplomats and other members of the trading community to keep themselves abreast with the provisions of government import and export prohibition lists, revealed that Apapa port command is evolving a reliable system to process non intrusive inspection of cargoes that meets World Customs Organisation (WCO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) standards.
