The Federal Government and Benin Republic have mutually agreed on the harmonization of the list of prohibitive items by the two countries.

The two African countries also consented to the removal of inhibitive barriers and other obstacles to legitimate trade and the establishment of Customs units when traffic permits.

These and more, formed a kernel of mutual discourse between Nigeria’s Customs Service delegation and their Benin Republic counterpart when Nigeria’s customs visited the Republic of Benin. Nigeria’s Customs Service delegation was led by Acting Comptroller General of the Service, CG Wale Adeniyi.

The working visit to the Benin Republic was to step up efforts to improve bilateral trade relationships with the neighboring nations with a view to achieving mutual economic benefits, a statement issued by National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada said.

Acting CG delegation was received by the Director General of the Customs Administration in Benin, Mr. Alain Hinkati, and Customs partners Webb Fontaine and Benin Control.

The delegation according to the statement also visited Customs facilities at the port of Cotonou, where the Ag. CGC was taken through the processes and operations at the port.

During the visit, the two chiefs engaged with stakeholders from both countries, and their concerns were identified and effectively considered.

Notable among the concerns is the request to review the possibilities of reopening the border, as well as addressing the issue of administrative charges.

According to the Ag. CGC, the visit was to deepen collaborations in mutually positive areas.

He said, “The objective of the visit is for us to review friendship with the customs administration of Benin and also to deepen collaborations in areas of common interest”.

“I saw the attention that was given to the port of Cotonou, the progress that is being made in reducing clearance time, ensuring that there is no congestion at the Port and, more importantly, using technology to drive operations of the Customs Administration”, he said.

“The attempt which Benin Customs has done towards trade facilitation is something that Nigeria Customs will also be doing particularly to look at where we can use our processes to reduce the cost and time of doing business”, he explained.

At the end of the meeting, a joint communique signed by the two delegations harped on the continuation of efforts to promote the ECOWAS trade liberalization scheme and the facilitation of the movement of goods and community products in particular.

“It stressed facilitation of the issue of Laisse passe for a short stay in one of the countries of means of transport registered in the other country; removal of barriers and other obstacles to legitimate trade and the establishment of Customs units when the traffic justifies it and Strict compliance with transit rules.

Other issues in which consensus was reached include, harmonizing the list of products prohibited by the two countries; 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; strengthening fight against cross-border crime through cooperation, intelligence sharing and the pooling of resources and regular meetings, at least twice a year to discuss matters of common interest among others.

Ag. CGC and his delegation had a private meeting with the President of the Republic of Benin, his Excellency Mr Patrice TALON, on Sunday, 23^rd of July, expressing the desire to initiate a new turning point marked by close collaboration in all areas. (New Telegraph)

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