Following the ratification of African Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by member nations, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it’s presently awaiting the directives of the National Action Committee (NAC) on the list of duties and charges waived for liberalised goods under the agreement.
A statement by Joseph Attah, public relations officer of the Service disclosed that the list awaited would include the list of the 90 percent liberalised National Trade Offers; list of 70 percent non-liberalised exclusive goods at the regional level and list of 3 percent non-liberalised sensitive goods.
Attah stated that Customs is also awaiting the appointment of a competent Authority responsible for issuing and authenticating certificates of origin and registering enterprises and products within the region.
According to him, the Service recommends that each member country should have a representative in the continental Chamber of Commerce to ensure transparency within the body thereby generating confidence in the system.
This, he said, should be complementary to the activities of the various Chambers of Commerce of each country in the region.
“While awaiting clear directives concerning tariffs for all goods covered by this agreement, we want to assure the public of our preparedness to fully deploy our services at the shortest notice. Our desire is to imbue trust in the system while guaranteeing the economic safety and wellbeing of businesses within the country,” Attah stated.
While re-confirming the willingness and readiness to play its role as trade facilitators in this regard, he however reminded the public that Customs functions are highly automated and primarily systems driven. “Hence, the need to methodically harvest and integrate all data associated with AfCFTA into our system for easy deployment, access and use by the trading public.”
On the importance of such directive, Attah stated that “Instead of proceeding in a chaotic manner, the Nigeria Customs Service as policy implementor understands the importance of spelling out the roles and responsibilities of all parties in this agreement and the conditions attendant on its implementation.”
He further said that Customs looks with optimism to an era of complete economic integration which will lead to growth and prosperity for businesses within the region.
