The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the United Kingdom’s His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have moved closer to finalising a Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement (CMAA) aimed at strengthening information sharing, compliance and trade facilitation between both countries.
The agreement is expected to provide a framework for closer cooperation between the two customs administrations, particularly in the exchange of information and efforts to improve compliance in cross-border trade.
Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of the Strategic, Research and Policy Department, Nafi’u Isyaku, who represented the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this during a high-level bilateral meeting with an HMRC delegation at the NCS headquarters in Maitama, Abuja, on Friday.
Isyaku said the negotiations had been conducted virtually for about six months before the two sides met physically to resolve outstanding issues and pave the way for the signing of the agreement.
“The meeting is to finalise our Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement (CMAA). We have been doing it virtually for some six months now. We decided to come here in person so that we can finalise the negotiations before the final signing,” he said.
According to him, the agreement is expected to be signed in the first week of December during the World Customs Organisation Policy Commission meeting.
Senior Policy Adviser at HMRC, Syed Moinuddin, described the bilateral engagement as an opportunity for both customs administrations to strengthen cooperation and establish a framework that reflects their respective interests.
He said the discussions would further deepen the relationship between the NCS and HMRC within the broader international customs community.
Also speaking, Louisa Bentley, Head of Bilateral Relations and Agreements at HMRC, said negotiations held over the two-day meeting were successful, adding that both sides were close to concluding the agreement.
Bentley said the CMAA would support trade by improving compliance and information sharing between HMRC and the NCS, while facilitating greater access to global trade opportunities.
She also commended the reforms being implemented by the NCS after touring key facilities at the Customs headquarters, including the Trade Modernisation Project Limited office, Pre-Arrival Assessment Report office and Nigeria Customs Broadcasting Network station.
“We have seen significant developments in technology and personnel training,” she said, noting that the reforms would contribute to more modern and efficient trade processes.
The bilateral meeting, which began on Thursday, September 25, and ended on Friday, September 26, concluded with a tour of key departments and operational units at the NCS headquarters.
The visit provided the HMRC delegation with an opportunity to assess ongoing technological, administrative and personnel-development reforms within the Nigerian Customs Service.
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