Customs Introduces Measure to Improve Import Processes

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced that it has commenced the use of a new technology to boost its operations and end the long wait for goods to go through customs and import processes.

According to the customs, the new system, called NICIS (Nigerian Integrated Customs Information System) II, is used to facilitate transactions at airports, sea ports, and land borders.

The NSC in a statement said the technology was launched in October 2017 and was still being deployed at a number of command centres across the country.

The technology is expected to boost the country’s trade volume and ease the complexity in international trade.

“For instance, user management could not accommodate multiple tiers of security features in the old system. In contrast, NICIS II integrates state-of-the-art technology supporting vehicle identification number verification and biometric authentication, among others.”

The NCS added, “Another example is compatibility and device support. The old system did not run on Apple Mac, tablets, or smartphones.

“It worked only partially on MS Windows 7 and did not support Windows 8 at all. Not ideal for modern operations, quick turnaround or staff efficiency on the move.

“It’s not a big surprise, then, that Nigeria decided to move on to a system that could truly support trade modernisation.

“NICIS II is a real improvement for trade stakeholders, who can now access a modern web interface anytime, anywhere, across a variety of platforms, and benefit from automation and speeding up of processing.”

Upgraded offices, they disclosed, were already seeing a dramatic drop in clearance time.

“In May 2018, it was reduced by more than half compared to May 2017. Some newly deployed commands have even seen a reduction of the clearance time by a factor of three.

“So far, the new NICIS II system has been deployed at eight ports accounting for 78 per cent of the country’s annual declarations. It will progressively be available at no fewer than 38 area commands across the country, “the NCS said.