By Dayo Adesulu
Bashir Adewale Adeniy, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, has stated the Nigeria Customs Service’s commitment to working with the Republic of Benin Customs Administration to regulate cross-border trade between the two countries.
This information was provided by CGC on September 11, 2023, at the opening remarks of a two-day interactive meeting between the Nigeria Customs Service and the Benin Republic Customs in Abuja.
The meeting will pave the way for a comprehensive method to harmonise the import prohibition lists of the two nations. The gathering aims to develop further the already existing bilateral commercial links and collaboration between the two countries.
Speaking further, according to the Service spokesperson, CSC Abdullahi Maiwada, the Ag. CGC appreciated the Benin Customs and Embassy of the country for expressing interest in collaborating with the Nigeria Customs Service to enhance trade facilitation.
“The Customs administration in both countries have a very good idea and technical know-how on what it means with trade; thus, we are back with a renewed enthusiasm to foster our relationship and make impact on our trade facilitation roadmap”, the Ag. CGC said.
“It is our hope that the program will address the issues of trade and set a roadmap for implementation of new strategies that will enhance the economy and revenue in Nigeria and Benin Republic. Thus, our organizations need to come up with ideas that will address the issues of transit and other progressive measures”, he added.
The customs boss said with the increasing global security challenges, the need for both customs administrations to work in synergy cannot be over-emphasized, adding that their intended mutualism will boost their relationship to improve the economy of both two nations.