What President Tinubu must do to grow Nigeria's non-oil export (5)

The Needed Paperwork

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This is the fifth in the series of articles being written to advise the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on what must be done in order to grow the non-export volume to match and even surpass that of crude oil and gas exports. In this edition, the focus will be on the policies relating to documentation required in the export process. This involves the necessity of streamlining the paperwork, which consequently aids the growth of non-oil export volume by increasing the speed of export clearance. This will mean a reduction in the number of agencies and documentation required in the clearance of non-oil exports through the various ports in the country.

Currently the documentation required for the pre-export clearance of an Agro commodity like raw cocoa beans in Nigeria is 19 and these include NXP, Proforma Invoice, Export Certificate, Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) receipts, Request for Information (RFI) form, Fumigation Certificate, Phytosanitary Certificate, Invoice, Packing List, NAFDAC Health Certificate, Clean Certificate of Inspection (CCI), Single Goods Declaration, Examination Clearance Certificate, Certificate of Examination, DSS TCIP Form 22/Export, Joint Examination Form, Export Release Note, Assessment Note and Inspection Act.

The component of the policy on export documentation should include the following to achieve its objectives and this include: simplifying the export documentation, creating a one-stop shop for process export documentation, implementing the issuance of digital certificates, implementation of electronic signature to approve or authenticate export clearance document, giving incentives to exporters with good history of complying export documentation, providing online resources for export
documentation, capacity building on export regulations and documentation and international collaboration to harmonise export documentation.

The fact that the export documentation is up to 19 is a testament to the need to implement a policy that simplifies and streamlines the export documentation regime. For example, there is no need for an invoice after the Proforma has already been issued by the exporters, since they both contain similar information. In addition to this, the details like packing and quantity on the packing list can also be stated on the proforma invoice. Also, all documents issued by government agencies after their inspection should be fused together into one and called combined export clearance documents, which will have a section for each of these agencies to sign off to confirm their approval.

The policy on paperwork should also create an online and offline one-stop shop for the processing of all the export documentation by all the respective government agencies. This one stop shop should include agencies that issues the following documents: Fumigation Certificate, Phytosanitary Certificate, Invoice, Packing List, NAFDAC Health Certificate, Clean Certificate of Inspection (CCI), Single Goods Declaration, Examination Clearance Certificate, Certificate of Examination, DSS TCIP Form 22/Export, Joint Examination Form, Export Release Note, Assessment Note and Inspection Act. This is to enable the exporter or its agent to visit only one location online and offline to process these documents and resolve any problems affecting the issuance and approval.

The online aspect of one-stop shop policy should cover implementing the issuance of digital forms and certificates that are only required for local use and not for buyers or government agencies in export markets and these include Clean Certificate of Inspection (CCI), Single Goods Declaration, Examination Clearance Certificate, Certificate of Examination, DSS TCIP Form 22/Export, Joint Examination Form, Export Release Note, Assessment Note and Inspection Act. This should also be accompanied by the implementation of an electronic signature to approve or authenticate these export clearance documents.

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Just as it is done in the import clearing process, the concept of authorised economy operator should be introduced to the export process. This is a status given to businesses that are regular importers, who are very compliant in their declarations and documentation. It enables their transactions to be on the fast track and thereby avoids unnecessary delays. If this policy is implemented in the export clearance process, it will be a good incentive to exporters with a good history of complying with export documentation, and it will encourage more exporters to be compliant and also speed up the export process, thereby making it more efficient.

Since new entrants are coming into the export business sector from time to time, the policy on paperwork should also include the provision of online resources on export documentation to guide the intending exporters. The policy should also cover a periodic capacity-building programme on export regulations and documentation. This will allow the government agencies to provide any updates on the process and also get feedback from the exporters and their agents

Currently, some documents issued by government agencies like NAFDAC in Nigeria are not recognised by similar agencies in the export market. This means that the exporter is repeating the test they already did in Nigeria abroad. Therefore, this policy should mandate these government agencies to work with similar agencies abroad to harmonise export documentation and thereby avoid issuing the document twice.

Finally, I strongly believe that if the policies suggested in this write-up are considered with necessary modifications and implementation, it will help the respective government agencies achieve the objective of growing the non-oil export sector to become a major foreign exchange earner for the country.

Bamidele Ayemibo is the chief executive officer at 3TImpex Trade Consulting