The Nigerian Customs Service plans to make Nigerian ports friendlier and improve an export-led economic development strategy.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Acting Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, at the Presidential Villa.
Adeniyi also noted that customs officers are ready to carry out their duties in line with the objectives of the Customs Service and the Policy Advisory Document on the Customs (PAC).
Improvements
Adeniyi revealed that the service is working on what it can bring to the table to improve the economy, and promote port efficiency, he said:
- “We had discussions regarding what Customs can bring to the table to actualize the vision of renewed hope for Nigeria, what customers can do in terms of addressing gaps in revenue generation in the customs, our enforcement strategies, and most importantly, the issue of promoting port efficiency and competitiveness of our ports”.
Decongestion
He added that the NCS plans to decongest the ports and include an hour’s clearance of goods around the ports, he said:
- “In terms of specifics, I am sure that we are all very, very familiar with the Presidential Advisory Council. And there is a document that has been made public.
- “Our discussions centre around aligning the vision of customs, the activities of custom in the short, medium, and long terms with those noble objectives set out in the PAC documents.
- “So, we’re talking about making our ports user-friendly.
- “We’re talking about decongesting the ports, we talked about 48 hours clearance of goods around the ports, export-led inward-looking economic development strategies. So, these are some of the issues that we discussed”.
He also pledged the commitment of the customs to bring out reforms and to collaborate with other agencies of government to achieve some of those objectives stated in the PAC documents.
Adeniyi said the recent election of Tinubu as ECOWAS Chairman, means more work for the Nigeria Customs and strong collaboration among countries in the region, adding it is so good to note that my assumption of office coincides with that period when attention will be focused on Nigeria holding the flag of regional integration.
“In the next one week, or thereabout, I will be paying an official visit to the Republic of Benin, to have discussions with the Customs Administration of Benin, and see how we can take forward the issue of collaborations between us, the issue of border security, the issue of importation across the border”.
In case you missed it
Recall Nairametrics reported earlier that The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) plans to auction containers that have exceeded their required time at Nigerian ports to alleviate congestion and improve efficiency.
The decision came after a sensitization drive involving shipping lines, freight forwarders, and clearing agents, and an assessment tour of the ports by a government team.
- They revealed that the ports in Lagos and Tincan Island, as well as the Eastern-based ports, are currently burdened with a significant number of overtime cargoes and containers, which have contributed to infrastructure deterioration.