Customs Demands Key Roles in AfCFTA Implementation
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tuesday said it was interested in a clear cut roles as far as implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is concerned.
The Service said there was the need for clear and non-conflicting roles of all stakeholders to be laid down, adding that this will help in achieving .seamless implementation of AfCTA,
In a statement on behalf of Customs Comptroller General, the Public Relations Officer of the Service, Mr. Joseph Attah, said the Service was only interested in roles that will facilitate trade, adding that all responsibilities of all stakeholders should be very clear.
Attah also added that the conditions of implementation need to be clear so as to avoid issues.
According to him, “ it is pertinent to inform the public about steps which must be taken to enable its smooth and full implementation.
“Our functions are highly automated and primarily systems-driven, hence the need to methodically harvest and integrate all data associated with AfCFTA into our system for easy deployment, access and use by the trading public.
“We therefore await: The National Action Committee (NAC) on the list of duties and charges waived for liberalised goods under AfCFTA;
“The list of the 90 per cent liberalised national trade offers (NTOs); list of the 70 per cent non-liberalised exclusive goods at the regional level; and list of the 3 per cent non-liberalised sensitive goods;
“The appointment of a competent authority responsible for issuing and authenticating certificates of origin and registering enterprises and products within the region.”
The Customs Service was of the view that each participating country should be represented in the continentasl chamber of commerce for the purpose of transparency in all operations.
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