-by our correspondent.
Nigerian exporters are crying out loud against the pre-export requirements newly introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying the procedure is frustrating export of goods from the country to other nations.
In a statement, the umbrella body of the exporters, Network of Practicing Non-oil Exporters of Nigeria (NPNEN), said the apex bank’s demand of electronic Export Proceed Form from exporters has brought about huge setback.
According to the President of NPNEN, Ahmed Rabiu, the new procedure has so many layers of activities that often led to delays and loss of income on the part of exporters.
“We acknowledge the CBN’s desire to ensure that all exports out of Nigeria are documented in order to ensure that the proceeds of such exports are repatriated, however, the reality on the field shows that the process is causing undue delays and consequently, encouraging corruption.” He said.
Under the new pre-export requirements regime, the CBN requires export transactions to be initiated through electronic processing on the trade monitoring system (eNXP) before the pre-shipment inspection agent, the Nigeria Customs Service and other designated government agencies would then do the pre-export inspections.
The exporters called for immediate reversal of the process while referring to a recent report that about N868bn worth of goods bound for export are currently stranded at the Nigerian ports owing to the new procedure.
“For example, for the PIA to issue the CCI, the exporter is required to upload a certificate of origin as one of the supporting documents for the eNXP, the PIA is also required to upload the CCI to the TRMS(M) and until this is done, the Customs service will not issue the Single Good Declaration,” Rabiu said.
He added, “After issuing the SGD, the customs is further required to upload it into the TRMS before the goods are allowed to be gated into the port and loaded on the vessel by the shipping line. The layers so created by the new CBN procedure have made the export of goods from Nigeria cumbersome, leading to deterioration of agro commodities and losses for the commodity exporters.” He added.
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