Lagos – The Zonal Coordinator, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Zone `A’, Assistant Comptroller-General Eporwei Edike, on Tuesday called for proper sensitisation of Nigerian exporters to meet international standards..
Edike made the call at a two-day Maritime Summit organised by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and Tell Magazine in Lagos.
He said that the most of the products being exported were usually of low standard, adding that there should be more enlightenment “on what exporters are expected to produce’’.
“The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Retired Col. Hameed Ali, will be providing free training for the teeming youths for them to be enlightened on exportable products.
“If the youth are properly tutored on exports, they will be so fulfilled that they will turn down any job offer, ’’ Edike said.
He said that there was need for exporters to engage in strategic planning to enable them know the time of arrival of vessels before bringing their goods to the ports.
Also speaking, the Director, Production Department of Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Williams Ezeagwu, urged Nigerians to support the government in diversifying the nation’s economy by going into exportation.
Ezeagwu said that the benefits of exportation were numerous.
“Exportation increases foreign exchange earnings from key agricultural products,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes him as saying.
He said that there was need for all states to imbibe the export culture which would go a long way in empowering the women and the teeming youths.
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Ezeagwu said that exportation would also improve Nigeria’s global market share among export- producing countries.
He said that high proportion of non-oil exports was expected to create employment, raise incomes and mitigate rural-urban migration.
“Emphasis on exports helps concentrate investments in the more efficient sector of the economy, thus raising production.
“Efficiency is aided further by production for international markets since this permits greater economies of scale and forces firms to lower their costs in order to remain competitive in the international market,’’ Ezeagwu said.
He blamed it all on the absence of Regional Investment and Trade Officers (RITO) and also poor trade-related infrastructure.
Ezeagwu said high cost of logistic chain during exportation process had also affected exportation in the country.
The Executive Secretary of the NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, called for good automation system of cargo clearance at the ports.
Bello urged the stakeholders to always engage in honest declaration to fast-track clearance procedures and assist the government in achieving the 48-hour cargo clearance target.
He said that policy inconsistency had affected the realisation of efficient port operations in the country.
Bello said that there was need to seek an appropriate policy framework that would assist the transformation of Nigerian Ports.
The executive secretary suggested the need to engage in multi-modal transportation instead of concentrating on single model transport.
Bello also unfolded plans to have a sensitisation seminar with the NCS aimed at honest cargo declaration at the ports. (NAN)