Customs signs MoU with China to boost import, export operations

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) to foster bilateral relationship and enhance economic growth.

In an X post on Sunday, Adewale Adeniyi, comptroller-general of customs (CGC), said the MoU was signed when he led some of his management team to Shenzhen on May 8.

According to Adeniyi, the significance of knotting bilateral affiliations with China is to boost the import-export operations between the two countries and favour the businesses of MSMEs in Nigeria. 

Adeniyi appreciated Wang Lingjun, the vice minister of GACC, for showing interest in signing the MoU with the NCS. 

He also applauded the recent exponential rise in the development of e-commerce.

“We know a lot of Nigerian companies and SMEs take advantage of the opportunities aided through e-commerce,” Adeniyi said.

He further expressed optimism that the NCS-GACC MoU will serve as a critical component of cooperative security and trade relationship between the two nation’s customs agencies.

“The relationship will create a cooperative mechanism for NCS and the GACC to collaborate on supply chain security standards and enhance the economic stability of both nations,” he added.

“These are some of the many reasons why Nigeria Customs Service pays attention to what is happening in China. 

“As you have said, China is making the biggest trade in Nigeria, and the basic context of international trade is ‘your export is our import’. 

“I appreciate the numbers that you gain in Nigeria. But it is also common knowledge that those numbers sometimes must take account of the large volume of informal trade that exists between us.” 

On his part, Lingjun, represented by vice minister Sun Yuning, expressed satisfaction over Adeniyi’s vision.

He said the affiliation between the two agencies will serve as a mechanism for creating opportunities that Nigeria and China share on a wide range of economic issues and trade facilitation.