Nigeria Needs Single Window Cargo Clearance System – Customs

The Nigeria Customs Service Public Relations Officer,  Mr Wale Adeniyi,, says that Nigeria needs the single window system of cargo clearance.

Adeniyi told newsmen  in Abuja  that there was no controversy about the system but about the capability of the company awarded the contract.

He described the Single Window System as an electronic platform for inter-connectivity of all stakeholders involved in the clearance of goods, trade, aviation and shipping.

“With Single Window, we will have one single platform accessible to importers, terminal operators and all government agencies,” he said.

Adeniyisaid all the stakeholders could log onto the platform and transact any business that concerned them..

The spokesman said the Automated System of Customs Data (ASYCUDA) was built to gradually end up in the Single Window.

He explained that all the key stakeholders, including banks, service providers, NAFDAC and , Standards Organisation of Nigeria were already connected to the platform.

The National Assembly held a public hearing on the adoption of a Single Window system in the clearance of cargo in the nation’s seaports, airports and international borders.

The system is a model aimed at eliminating the multiplicity of documentation involved in cargo clearance, which made Nigeria to rank as one of the most expensive countries to do business in the world.

The public hearing came on the heels of the concession agreement signed between the Federal Government and the management of Single Window Systems and Technology Limited (SWSTL), a firm wishing to establish a unified electronic data system of goods clearing in the country.

The questions raised by some stakeholders on the implementation of the new regime, however, propelled the National Assembly to decide on the need to hold a public hearing on the matter.

The public hearing was held to address criticisms, which greeted the signing of the contract between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the firm.