Nigeria has reactivated its National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) to foster collaboration with stakeholders, tackle challenges and harness opportunities in the global marketplace.
Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, announced this during the relaunch ceremony in Abuja.
The minister elucidated that merging the trade facilitation and liberalisation subcommittee of the Presidential Council on Industrial Revitalisation (PCIR) with the NTFC into a unified body was a strategic manoeuvre aimed at advancing the nation’s economic diversification and sustainable development objectives.
Highlighting the role of the committee in the current administration’s sustainable development agenda, Dr. Anite stressed its substantial benefits.
She reiterated that the Federal Executive Council established the NTFC in 2014 to ensure coordinated, standardised, and streamlined trade processes and procedures, thereby enhancing Nigeria’s business environment.
Dr. Anite urged all NTFC members to collaborate effectively to enhance trade facilitation by adopting global best practices, optimising trade procedures, and bolstering efficiency in line with the committee’s goals.
In his address, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller General of Customs, commended the Federal Government for revitalising the NTFC.
Expressing confidence in the NTFC’s ability to enhance Nigeria’s economic competitiveness on a global scale, he pledged the Nigeria Customs Service’s unwavering commitment to collaborating with all stakeholders to implement the trade facilitation agreement.
Similarly, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, underscored the dynamic nature of the global economic landscape, emphasising Nigeria’s need to strategically adapt.
He stated that the relaunch signifies a collective resolve to advance trade facilitation efforts.
The NTFC has established Trade Facilitation Centres/Desks in all 36 states of the federation, including the FCT, to monitor trade flows and streamline the movement of goods and people.
Comprising 43 members from key ministries, departments, and agencies in the public and private sectors, the committee is chaired by the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, with the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service serving as the vice chairperson.