The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), in conjunction with the World Bank and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, convened with maritime stakeholders, regulatory and security agencies to identify bottlenecks hindering trade facilitation and provide a holistic approach to addressing them.
The World Bank team led by Aleksandar Stojanov and delegates from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment were in Apapa, Lagos State, recently to study operations at the port and inspection processes.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC) Apapa Area Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, who presided over the meeting, stated that since he came on board, the Command has leveraged on stakeholder engagement, “We engage sufficiently with the security agencies and other regulatory agencies on the ground, and our actions have been intelligence-driven, and we have been able to key into the trade pillars, and significantly, it has helped us towards our tasks”.
He said, “For May, we were able to generate N175 billion into the national coffers, which is quite above our target. We were able to exceed the target with about N20 billion”, Comptroller Olomu stated.
The Area Controller emphasised the commitment of the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, in facilitating trade.
According to him, in the last few months, the CGC has addressed issues surrounding trade facilitation, “Initially, we were adopting the Fast Track, but under his administration, we have upgraded to the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO)”.
“Also, the World Trade Organisation Trade Facilitation Agreement mandates every customs administration to set up advance ruling which we keyed into, under the administration of the present CGC; these two concepts have positively impacted the trade facilitation system”, he emphasised.
Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Udoka-Anite, represented by Dr. Brenda Max-Nduaguibe, stressed that the World Bank has been steadfast in their support and collaboration in advancing Nigeria’s Trade Facilitation goal and strengthening the economy to position Nigeria as a leading trade hub in the region.
Stakeholders at the meeting commended the efforts of the NCS in facilitating trade while also calling on terminal owners to upgrade their services.
Oluseyi Adebiyi said, “We have heard from representatives of the World Bank and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. The idea is to improve revenue and facilitate trade, and their presence here will do a lot. I know that after this meeting, there will be a lot of improvement at the port”, he said.
