Exporters in the country on Wednesday bemoaned the pre-export requirements imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, they noted that it is currently frustrating their ability to export goods to other countries.
The exporters through their umbrella body the Network of Practicing Non-oil Exporters of Nigeria stated that the electronic Nigeria Export Proceed Form being required by the bank from exporters had come with enormous bottlenecks.
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The President of the body, Ahmed Rabiu, in a statement released in Abuja, noted that the new procedure had so many layers of activities that were encumbrances which led to financial loss for its members.
He said, “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.”
According to the new pre-export requirements, the CBN expects export transactions to be initiated through eNXP processing on the trade monitoring system.
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Exporters disclosed that after this, the pre-shipment inspection agencies, which includes: the Nigeria Customs Service and other designated government agencies would conduct their pre-export inspections.
They noted that the PIA was expected to issue a Clean Certificate of Inspection, while the Customs would issue the Single Good Declaration.
According to them, a recent report showed that N868bn worth of goods bound for export was stuck at the ports due to the new procedure, as they called for urgent attention to reverse the trend.
Providing further explanation, Rabiu said, “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.”
He added, “After issuing the SGD, customs are 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.”
He argued that the layers created by the new CBN procedure had made the export of goods from Nigeria cumbersome, as it had also led to the deterioration and losses for agro commodity exporters.
