The Nigerian Shippers’ Council in collaboration with USAID and WATH (West African Trade Hub) will today (Tuesday) flag-off a two-day stakeholders sensitisation workshop on Cross Border trade at the Nigerian Customs Service Conference Hall, Seme Border, Lagos.
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council in collaboration with USAID and WATH (West African Trade Hub) will today (Tuesday) flag-off a two-day stakeholders sensitisation workshop on Cross Border trade at the Nigerian Customs Service Conference Hall, Seme Border, Lagos.
According to a statement from Shippers’ Council deputy director, public relations, Mr Ignatius Nweke, “the workshop with the theme: “Border Information Centre (BIC) as a Toll for Facilitating Cross Border Trade” would, among other things, sensitize stakeholders and shippers on the BIC and its potentials for facilitating smooth Cross Border Trade as well as creating an avenue for encouraging the formalization of cross border trade and identify challenges faced by shippers.”
According to him, “the two-day sensitization workshop, which is expected to provide a useful platform, would witness presentation of papers by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council on the role she plays in trade facilitation and an update by USAID and WATH on BIC Seme, activities at BIC Seme and lessons for other BIC centres.”
It would be recalled that USAID and WATH had assessed the implementation of the ECOWAS trade liberalisation scheme (ETLS) and conducted a gap analysis to identify impediments to smooth trade and reduce informal trade in addition to evaluating the movement of persons, goods and transport between regional borders. The outcome of the research revealed lack of adequate information dissemination to the traders and the border community as one of the problems of informal trade across the borders.
After a string of months of activities by the USAID/WATH and Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Border Information Centre (BIC) at Seme was eventually launched on the 11th December, 2012 with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council chosen by USAID/WATH to drive the implementation of the centres in all the West and Central African sub region.
As part of its statutory function in protecting the interest of the Nigerian cargo owners, this collaborative effort of the Council gave rise to the Border Information Centre that would effectively serve as a point where Shippers would obtain necessary information for the smooth transaction of their businesses across the border and encourage legitimate cross border trade.
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