The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has said that more than 25 per cent of the nation’s non-oil exports, made up of agro allied products are rejected abroad due to poor packaging and poor standards.
Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone A, Lagos, Charles Edike made this observation at a two-day sensitisation seminar organized by the Nigerian Shippers Council in collaboration with Tell Magazine in Lagos.
The seminar with the theme ’Exploring Opportunities in Nigeria’s Maritime Industry’ which is in line with the council’s function of protecting shippers’ (importers and exporters) interest, was aimed at enlightening the shippers on the rudiments of export trade and also draw the attention of the government and its relevant agencies on the challenges faced by these shippers in carrying out their trade.
Eidike said that many of the Nigerian exporters have not embraced the reality that there are internationally acceptable standards in terms of quality and packaging every export product must comply with before they are allowed to enter the borders of any nation. He blamed this high level of rejection of Nigeria’s non-oil export goods abroad to the in ability of the exporters to carry out market research on the commodities they intend to export in terms of quality and packaging.
“Many Nigerians rush into export business because they heard that some people are in such business and are making money without doing their research and more often than not, they do not have enough information about the commodity they intend to export in terms of standards and packaging”, he said. Edike, who is an Assistant Comptroller General ACG in the service, observed that the difference between two products is proper packaging, which many of the Nigerian export products lack and which negatively affects their acceptability in the international market.
He however said there was urgent need for the government to remove all trade barriers, which have also worked against the government’s moves towards boosting non-oil exports, especially given the uncertainties in the global crude oil market. He also listed some of the challenges facing the non oil exporters to include lack of access to cheap funds, insisting that none of them would adequately survive with the current two-digit interest rates unlike their peers in other climes including some developing countries, insisting that all exporters may not be as financially buoyant as the Olam Group.
