As the African Continental Free Trade Area gets under way, the Nigeria Customs Service says it waits for National Action Committee on the list of duties and charges waived for liberalised goods.
The NCS disclosed in a statement on Tuesday by its Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Attah.
According to the NCS, the list includes 90 per cent liberalised National Trade Offers and 70 per cent non-liberalised exclusive goods at the regional level.
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The service also awaits another list of three per cent on non-liberalised sensitive goods, it states.
It pointed out that appointment of a competent authority responsible for issuing and authenticating certificates of origin as well as registering enterprises and products within the region was another important issue to be addressed.
“NCS acknowledges the transformational impact this agreement portends for businesses within the continent in general and Nigeria in particular, and are fully committed to its success.
“Further, the Service recommends that each member country should have a representative in the continental Chamber of Commerce to ensure transparency within the body, thereby generating confidence in the system.
“This, in our view, should be complementary to the activities of the various chambers of Commerce of each country in the region.
“While awaiting clear directives concerning tariffs for all goods covered by this agreement, we want to assure the public of our preparedness to fully deploy our services at the shortest notice,” the statement read.
It added, “Our desire is to imbue trust in the system while guaranteeing the economic safety and wellbeing of businesses within the country.
“We look with optimism to an era of complete economic integration, which will lead to growth and prosperity for businesses within the region.”
The NCS added that it was necessary to methodically harvest and integrate all data associated with AfCFTA into the Service’ system for easy deployment, access and use by the trading public.
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