Nigeria launches Advance Ruling System to decongest ports

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has launched the Advance Ruling System to provide information on requirements to import products into the country.

The system was done with the support of German Government within the framework of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), a technical assistance programme co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power (FMP).

The Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, said the system is a provision in Article III of the World Trade Organisation Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) that seeks to ensure that relevant information of trade procedures, customs rules and requirements are easily accessible to economic operators.

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The CG said this will reduce uncertainty and increase predictability in trade, adding that the path towards implementing Advanced Ruling in Nigeria has been fraught with challenges and setbacks.

Country Director, GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS, represented by the NESP Head of Programme, Duke Benjamin, commended the Nigeria Customs Service on the launch.