Customs, EU partner to enhance export documentation, facilitate trade in Nigeria

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it is partnering with the directorate-general taxation and customs union (DG-TAXUD) of the European Union (EU), to facilitate trade, and monitor export and documentation in Nigeria.

Adewale Adeniyi, comptroller-general (CG) of customs, spoke after a meeting with officials of the EU group in Abuja on Tuesday.

The DG-TAXUD manages, defends, and develops the customs union as an essential part of securing the outer borders of the EU and coordinates taxation policy across the region.

Adeniyi said the partnership was apt, considering that the NCS is seeking a credible digital platform that would enhance its validation of documents.

The NCS boss said he is confident that the initiative would open a new frontier of opportunities between the two economic blocs of registered exporters.

He also stressed the need for a framework between the customs and DG TAXUD that could be used to verify and validate export commodities.

“As part of our outreach program, we are also working with other agencies of the Nigerian government so that we maximise these opportunities,” Adeniyi said.

“In the past, we have had goods from Nigeria returned because of quality and storage.

“We have moved to establish a ‘one-stop-shop’ export seat for export documentation, so that it will help us reduce the time taken for Nigerian exporters to get their goods out of our port.

“Earlier this month, we launched the Time Release Studies (TRS), which we are targeting towards importing goods and how much it takes for businessmen to clear their goods in the port.”

According to Adeniyi, the service will launch a similar exercise using scientific procedures to get an appropriate estimate of the period and cost for the export of products.

He said the exercise would involve identifying bureaucratic modules, procedures, or laws that cause delays, to accelerate the process of clearing goods from the ports.

“My intention for us is to have a system that is better, faster, and easier to confirm your request within a very short period,” he added.

“I want us to talk about exportation like we all talk about importation.”

On his part, Gary Wilkinson, from the rules of origin unit, DG-TAXUD, said Nigerian products have been earmarked to receive a 4 percent tariff discount on their exports.

Wilkinson also said specific rules have been put in place to ascertain the origin of products under the organisation’s generalised system of preference scheme.