The American Business Council (ABC) has commended the Nigeria Customs Service for its ongoing trade facilitation reforms and renewed it’s commitment to stronger collaboration aimed at addressing business bottlenecks and enhancing Nigeria-United States trade relations.
The commendation came during a quarterly engagement between the NCS and the Council held on Tuesday at the Customs headquarters in Abuja where both parties reaffirmed the importance of sustained public -private sector engagement in promoting trade, security and stronger economic ties.
Speaking during the meeting, the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Adewale Adeniyi stressed the importance of regular consultations with stakeholders, noting that the engagement would be institutionalised as a permanent feature of the Service’s calendar.
“It is our intention that we will institutionalise this as a permanent feature of the Customs calendar because of the importance we attach to this kind of engagement,” Adeniyi said.
CGC Adeniyi also briefed participants on developments in key trade facilitation initiatives, including the Advance Ruling system, the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme, Post Clearance Audit, the B’Odogwu platform, and ongoing improvements in scanning integration and cargo clearance procedures aimed at enhancing operational efficiency.
Members of the American Business Council welcomed the reforms and commended the Service’s efforts, while also calling for quicker mechanisms to address outstanding challenges affecting businesses.
President of the American Business Council, Nneka Enwereji, described the meeting as productive and praised the Customs leadership for its commitment to improving the ease of doing business in the country.
“This session has been phenomenal and demonstrates your commitment to improving ease of doing business. You have raised the bar, and there is a lot that can be learned from this,” she said.
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