Adewale Adeniyi, the Nigeria Customs Service’s Acting Comptroller General, said this on Tuesday.

At the end of a two-day working visit by the Director-general and senior officials of the customs service of the Benin Republic, Adeniyi disclosed in Abuja that personnel from both countries had reached a number of agreements during the meeting, which was meant to improve trade relations between Nigeria and the Benin Republic and stop smuggling.

“We are building confidence in the system offered by the Republic of Benin, our importers are using their ports and vice-versa. If there are people in Benin Republic who want to use our ports, we try to build trust in our systems.

“And by virtue of this agreement, what it means is that Nigerian importers willing to use the ports in Cotonou can have their goods cleared in those ports because there would be an opportunity for them to pay duties on goods that are liable for payment of duties.

“We can account for the duties on those goods in the ports of arrival. So they will now be free to enter Nigeria,” the Nigeria Customs boss said.

He added that though the move won’t be operational immediately as the details are still being worked out, when it fully comes on board, the clearance will be beyond just vehicles.

He said, “It goes beyond vehicles. Any goods arriving in Cotonou ports, duty can be accessed and payment can be made and from there, it comes into the Nigerian territory.

“It is just like what happens when goods come in through Lagos or Port Harcourt; it is pretty much the same. But we have not got there. We have agreed in principle that we can operationalise this.

“So the steps that we are going to take to get us to that particular destination is what we are going to be working on. It was mentioned in the communique that we are going to establish timelines when we hope to achieve that particular milestone.”

Adewale said the partnership between Nigeria and Benin would enhance customs administration, trade facilitation and regional cooperation.

He added, “The occasion we celebrate today marks a significant milestone in our journey to strengthen collaboration, eliminate barriers, and promote legitimate trade within the West African region.”