The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said it is awaiting the National Action Committee (NAC) to provide the list of duties and charges waived for liberalised goods under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
Daily Trust reports that the AfCFTA that allows African countries to trade goods without huge import duties began on January 1, 2021. However, information about its implementation across the borders has been bleak.
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But NCS, in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Joseph Attah, Tuesday, said although the service is to implement the policy, lists of the affected trade items have not been given to it.
“We, therefore, await the National Action Committee (NAC) on the list of duties and charges waived for liberalised goods under AfCFTA.
“The list of the 90 per cent liberalised National Trade Offers; the list of 70 per cent non-liberalised exclusive goods at the regional level; the list of three per cent non-liberalised sensitive goods.
“The appointment of a competent authority responsible for issuing and authenticating certificates of origin and registering enterprises and products within the region,” it said.
“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.”
The NCS, which recently announced the constitution of the Joint Border Patrol team along with neighbouring countries, recommended that each country should have a representative in the continental chamber of commerce to ensure transparency within the body.
“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,” the statement noted.
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