From right: Comptroller -General, Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR presents a plaque to the chairman of the FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee, Kabir Mashi.

The Nigeria Customs Service NCS, has expressed its willingness to collaborate with the Federation Account Allocation Committee FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee to develop strategies aimed at boosting revenue generation and enhancing trade facilitation. This joint effort seeks to identify innovative solutions to optimise revenue collection and streamline trade processes, ultimately promoting economic growth and development in the country.

Speaking at the Customs headquarters in Abuja, May 20, 2024, when he played host to members of the Sub-Committee led by its chairman, Kabir Mashi, Comptroller-General of the service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, hinted that there has been a rise in export activities since January 2024 due to increasing trade facilitation efforts of the service. He further disclosed that a new terminal has been dedicated to export-related operations.

According to him, regular meetings are held with exporters to discuss their challenges and determine how the service can be of help. He also hinted that the service is planning to develop a special lane for export-laden containers to increase speed as part of measures to boost efficiency in processing export cargo in the country.

“We are currently conducting a Time Release Study TRS, which is to determine how long and how much it takes to conduct an average business transaction. Thus, we are concentrating on both exports and imports. When we can determine where these delays are, we will be able to conduct a post-mortem and find out what needs to be amended to increase revenue generation.

“We have also concluded the launch of Authorised Economic Operators in order to identify compliant economic entities that we can give VIP treatment and fast-track their processes”, the Comptroller General also said.

He also disclosed that the Advanced Ruling mechanism has been introduced to enhance predictability and to know how the trade turns out within a specified time.

The CGC, however, disclosed that the fluctuating exchange rate in recent times has affected cargo throughput, revenue generation, and trade facilitation negatively.

Meanwhile, chairman of the FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee, Kabir Mashi, commended the service for the revenues generated into the federation account and swift response to issues.

He further urged the Comptroller-General to work towards improving revenue collection into the federation account, pledging that the FAAC would continue to support the service in its efforts at facilitating trade.