The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, HMRC, of the United Kingdom have agreed to deepen trade facilitation and digital border management.
NCS’s Spokesperson, Abdullahi Maiwada, in a statement disclosed that the move, in furtherance of its commitment to enhancing international customs cooperation is following a high-level bilateral meeting in London under the framework of the Nigeria- United Kingdom Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership.
He said that the meeting held on the sidelines of the State visit of President Bola Tinubu to the U.K. was led by the Comptroller-General of NCS, Bashir Adeniyi and Ms Megan Shaw, Head of International Customs and Border Engagement at HMRC.
He said discussions centred on advancing customs modernisation, strengthening data transparency in bilateral trade flows and expanding operational cooperation between both administrations.
“This is with a view to improving efficiency and integrity across the Nigeria–United Kingdom trade corridor,” he said.
He said both administrations identified their gaps in bilateral trade data as a structural bottleneck that required coordinated resolution.
“Available statistics indicate that approximately 504 million pounds in UK-origin goods were recorded as imports into Nigeria in 2024.
“The U.K reported exports to Nigeria valued at approximately 1.7 billion pounds for the same period.
“To address this gap, both parties agreed to explore establishing a structured pre-arrival data exchange framework between their respective digital customs platforms to enhance risk management, improve data reconciliation and strengthen compliance monitoring,” he said.
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The NCS official said that the engagement provided an opportunity for both administrations to present their respective customs modernisation programmes.
This, he said, includes the U. K’s advancements in artificial intelligence-driven trade tools, digital verification systems and real-time analytics capabilities.
He said the discussions underscored the importance of deeper collaboration in technology deployment and digital border management, while also producing key outcomes.
He listed the outcomes to include the development of a Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Framework, the commencement of technical scoping for capacity-building and knowledge exchange.
He also added the establishment of a joint technical engagement mechanism under the ETIP framework as one of the outcomes.
Maiwada said that the NCS’s C-G at the meeting emphasised that effective customs cooperation remained a critical enabler of economic growth and sustainable trade development.
The C-G said that Nigeria and the U.K. share a long-standing economic relationship supported by active trade across key sectors, including industrial goods, agriculture, energy and consumer products.
“Customs administrations serve as the frontline institutions responsible for ensuring that trade flows between both countries are transparent, secure and mutually beneficial, “Adeniyi said.
According to the statement, the NCS reiterates its commitment to deepening international partnerships as part of its broader modernisation agenda to promote transparency, efficiency and competitiveness in Nigeria’s trading environment.
The NCS assured stakeholders that insights from the engagement would strengthen its operational capacity, enhance trade facilitation and support Nigeria’s economic reform objectives under the Renewed Hope programme.
NAN
