Customs officials from Nigeria and Benin Republic reach agreement on port of Cotonou

MEMBERS of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and their Beninoise counterparts have ended a two-day meeting in Abuja where they have entered agreements on a range of matters including a deal to clear all Nigerian goods from the port of Cotonou immediately.

For all intents and purposes, the port of Cotonou in Benin Republic, is part of Nigeria, as about 90% of the goods it handles are destined for the Nigerian market. At the moment, there is a huge backlog of Nigerian goods at the port, prompting Customs officials from the two countries to meet in Abuja to find a way to resolve the problem.

Adewale Adeniyi, the acting NCS comptroller-general, announced that following the meeting, Nigerian importers would soon be able to clear their goods from Cotonou. Speaking at the end of the two-day working visit by Benin Republic's customs service director-general and senior officials, he revealed that Customs personnel from both countries entered into various agreements in order to boost trade relations between Nigeria and Benin Republic, as well as curb smuggling.

Mr Adewale said: “We are building confidence in the system offered by the Republic of Benin, our importers are using their ports and vice-versa. If there are people in Benin Republic who want to use our ports, we try to build trust in our systems.

“By virtue of this agreement, what it means is that Nigerian importers willing to use the ports in Cotonou can have their goods cleared in those ports because there would be an opportunity for them to pay duties on goods that are liable for payment of duties. We can account for the duties on those goods in the ports of arrival, so they will now be free to enter Nigeria.

“It goes beyond vehicles. Any goods arriving in Cotonou ports, duty can be accessed and payment can be made and from there, it comes into the Nigerian territory. It is just like what happens when goods come in through Lagos or Port Harcourt, it is pretty much the same but we have not got there. We have agreed in principle that we can operationalise this.

“So the steps that we are going to take to get us to that particular destination is what we are going to be working on. It was mentioned in the communiqué that we are going to establish timelines when we hope to achieve that particular milestone.”

He added that the partnership between both nations would enhance customs administration, trade facilitation and regional cooperation. According to Mr Adewale, the agreement also marks a significant milestone in the journey to strengthen collaboration, eliminate barriers, and promote legitimate trade across the West African region.