By JONAH NWOKPOKU

Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS Dikko Abdullahi has identified the financial institutions as quintessential to ensuring successful international trade, especially the implementation of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, PAAR.

He made the observation while delivering a speech at the First City Monument Bank, FCMB international trade customer forum held in Lagos last week.
He said banks and their customers involved in the business of international trade constitute a major stakeholder in Customs’ operations.

According to him, “Financial Institutions are strategically located at the heart of the Buy-Export-Import-Delievery-Chain. Provision of Credit Rating, Import/Export Finance, Execution of Payment, Insurance, and Issuance of Statement are critical stages for Customers involved in international trade. For Import Clearance in Nigeria, the Banks are the first ports of call.”

He however disclosed that the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report being implemented by the Service is playing significant role in boosting international trade in the country.
He said that despite challenges confronting the Service in the implementation, in the last three months, i.e. from June to August, total PAARs issued stood at 72,898, representing a monthly average of over 24,000 PAARs.

He explained that, “Through the Pre-Arrival Processing, importers can access the Trade Portal and get authoritative information about their imports, take informed import decisions, order their imports, process import documents ahead of arrival and get their imports out of the Ports in good time.