Nigeria, UK advance negotiations on trade cooperation deal

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom have deepened discussions on a trade cooperation deal.

The development followed a high-level bilateral meeting with the HMRC delegation, led by its policy adviser, Syed Moinuddin, at the NCS headquarters in Abuja.

A statement on the meeting was made available to journalists in Abuja by the NCS spokesperson, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Sunday. Mr Maiwada said that the meeting was to finalise a Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement (CMAA) to strengthen information sharing, compliance and trade facilitation between the two countries.

The NCS Comptroller-General (C-G), Bashir Adeniyi, said the engagement was part of efforts to conclude negotiations on the agreement ahead of its proposed signing in December. The C-G was represented by Nafi’u Isyaku, the Assistant Comptroller-General (ACG) of Customs in charge of the Strategic, Research and Policy Department.

Mr Adeniyi said negotiations had been conducted virtually for about six months before the two sides decided to meet physically at the NCS headquarters to finalise outstanding issues.

“We decided to come here in person so that we can finalise the negotiations before the final signing, which hopefully is coming up in the first week of December during the World Customs Organisation Policy Commission meeting,” he said.

On his part, HMRC official Mr Moinuddin described the meeting as an opportunity for both customs administrations to work through areas of cooperation and establish a framework that reflected the interests of the two authorities.

Ms Moinuddin said the engagement had provided an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the NCS and HMRC within the wider customs family.

Also speaking, Louisa Bentley, head of Bilateral Relations and Agreements at HMRC, said negotiations held over the two days had been successful and both sides were close to finalising the agreement. Ms Bentley said the agreement would boost trade by improving compliance and information sharing between HMRC and the NCS, while also enhancing compliance and trade facilitation for both partners in global trade opportunities.

She commended the reforms and operational improvements observed during a tour of key NCS facilities, including the Trade Modernisation Project Limited office, Pre-Arrival Assessment Report office and Nigeria Customs Broadcasting Network station.

“We have seen significant developments in technology and personnel training, adding that the reforms would support more modern and efficient trade processes,” she said. The two-day meeting ended with a tour of key Customs departments to showcase the NCS reforms and operational developments to the HMRC delegation.