The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has concluded a week-long benchmarking and technical engagement tour across parts of Europe as part of measures to modernize the country’s trade facilitation framework and align its operations with global standards.
The mission, which ran from October 27 to November 4, 2025, took the delegation to Brussels, Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Frankfurt, and featured intensive sessions with the World Customs Organisation (WCO), Germany’s development agency GIZ, and experts in renewable energy technology.
The delegation began its engagements at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels, where Nigerian officers participated in advanced technical training on the Harmonised System (HS), complex chemical classification, and renewable-energy components used in green technology.
According to Assistant Comptroller Lauretta Utubor, who leads Nigeria’s Advance Ruling Programme, the Brussels sessions were “a crucial step toward refining classification standards that support predictability and boost compliance.”
The training was specifically designed to enhance Nigeria’s capacity to implement Advance Rulings—a key trade facilitation tool that enables importers to obtain binding classification decisions before goods arrive in the country, reducing clearance delays and uncertainty.
From Brussels, the Nigerian team moved to the Netherlands, a leading European centre for tariff administration, where they held technical sessions at the Dutch Customs Headquarters in Rotterdam. The National Tariff Classification Team, led by Ed Tulp, briefed them on procedures used across the EU for tariff classification, rules of origin, and the functioning of Europe’s Binding Tariff Information (BTI) system.
At the Customs National Tactical Centre, the delegation received detailed presentations on risk profiling, cargo monitoring, and tactical enforcement mechanisms, including the deployment of layered risk-management tools.
The team also visited Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest cargo hubs, where they observed integrated border procedures, automated cargo systems, and pre-arrival clearance channels designed to enhance trade efficiency.
In Germany, the officers visited several Customs formations to examine the country’s BTI regime, enforcement systems, and operational safety culture.
A highlight of the trip was a visit to the Customs Laboratory in Hamburg, where the delegation was briefed on testing procedures, classification techniques, and compliance verification for complex goods.
Further engagements at Frankfurt Airport allowed the delegation to study advanced cargo-screening technologies and multi-agency coordination frameworks that streamline air cargo processing in one of Europe’s busiest logistics centres.
While commending Europe’s systems, the delegation also noted Nigeria’s own emerging strengths. They pointed out that unlike the EU’s BTI portal, Nigeria’s Advance Ruling platform—developed entirely by Customs officers and local ICT experts—already categorizes requests into classification, valuation, and rules of origin, giving it what they described as an “early comparative advantage” in digital innovation.
The benchmarking visit was supported by GIZ, with technical input from renewable-energy researchers collaborating with Nigeria’s classification group.
Members of the delegation included Assistant Comptrollers SD Umar and Joseph Atile, Assistant Superintendent of Customs I Joseph Adejoh from the Public Relations Unit, as well as representatives from GIZ and the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN).
The NCS says the insights gained from the European benchmarking tour will directly inform ongoing reforms aimed at building a more transparent, predictable, and technology-driven trade environment in Nigeria.
