The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Benin Republic counterpart on Monday agreed to address the multiple taxes on transit cargoes along the ECOWAS corridor.
They also agreed to harmonise the import prohibition policy to ensure that whatever was banned in Nigeria would also be banned in Benin.
The Acting Comptroller-General of NCS, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, said this during a working visit to Cotonou and some decisions were reached between the two countries.
The Comptroller General also visited Webb Fontaine, Port of Cotonou, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and had an interactive session with stakeholders.
“On the measures to be taken to ensure a good relationship between the two countries, there is a need to promote the ECOWAS trade liberalisation scheme and the facilitation of the movement of goods and community products in particular.
“Ensure the removal of barriers and other obstacles to legitimate trade and the establishment of customs units when the traffic justifies it.
“Ensure strict compliance with transit rules and harmonisation of the list of products prohibited by the two countries.
“There should be rapid integration of Nigeria into the Interconnected System for the Management of Goods in Transit (SIGMAT) which already includes the Customs Administrations of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo,” he said.
Adeniyi pointed out that the two countries agreed to strengthen the fight against cross-border crime through cooperation, intelligence sharing and the pooling of resourcesMaritime First.
