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Friday, September 06,
2019 / 12:30PM / By Olumide, Chinasa,
Aramide & Oluwatoba of Banwo & Ighodalo / Header Image Credit:
B&I
In what appears to be a coordinated regulatory action, the
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control ("NAFDAC") and the
Central Bank of Nigeria ("CBN") both issued separate notifications last
weekend, stating that with effect from Monday, September 9, 2019, non-digital
licenses, certificates or permits issued by NAFDAC will no longer be acceptable
for the processing on the Nigeria Single Window Trade Portal of the importation
of products regulated by NAFDAC. NAFDAC regulated products include foods,
drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, packaged water, chemicals and detergents.
The notification by the CBN, a circular titled "Integration of NAFDAC e-Permit with e-Form 'M' on the
Nigerian Trade Portal", was issued on Friday, August
30, 2019, through its Trade and Exchange Department. It notified all Authorized
Dealers, Nigeria Customs Service ("NCS") and the general public that e-Permit
issued by NAFDAC, in respect of regulated products intended for importation
into the country, has been integrated with the e-Form 'M' used for processing
imports on the Nigeria Single Window Trade Portal.
Further to this development, only digital forms of Import
Permits issued by NAFDAC shall be used for the processing of import
transactions in respect of regulated products. Accordingly, the integrated
e-Permits and e-Form 'M' shall thenceforth be required for import processing on
the Nigeria Trade Portal. Please note that the relevant NAFDAC regulated
products are those with non-overlapping Harmonized System (HS) codes with the
Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON).
Similarly, in a Public Announcement titled "NAFDAC eLicense Go-Live on National Single Window for
Trade" and published on NAFDAC's website on Sunday, September 1,
2019, NAFDAC notified importers, freight forwarders, customs licensed agents,
port stakeholders, banks and the general public of the pending commencement of
the integrated NAFDAC e-Permits and e-Form 'M' on the Nigeria Single Window
Trade Portal.
The Public Announcement corroborates the CBN circular, that with
effect from September 9, 2019, scanned copies of NAFDAC licenses will no longer
be accepted for the processing of Form M on the Nigeria Single Window for Trade
Portal. In order to utilize the electronic licenses for the processing of Form 'M' for NAFDAC regulated products, applicants would be required to input the
Approval Reference Code stated on their NAFDAC e-licenses. This would then be
auto-verified and accepted by the e-Form 'M' platform. NAFDAC, in the Public
Announcement, also advised holders of valid NAFDAC Registration Certificates
and other import documents that are not in electronic formats, to visit its
website and follow a designated procedure for the digitization of such documents.
It would be recalled that earlier on November 16, 2018, NAFDAC
had issued a Public Notice on digitization of documents through
which it directed all marketing authorization holders and applicants to enroll
and digitize all registration and listing certificates and notifications on the
National Single Window for Trade, before such are presented in trade for
Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), Form 'M', Customs Clearance and other
trade-related transactions.
Comments
Integration of the systems and processes of critical government
agencies was one of the reform initiatives driven by the PEBEC/EBES, over the
last two to three years, under the variously implemented National Action Plans
on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria. One main purpose of the integration
is the emplacement of a seamless framework for business, devoid of multiple and
overlapping regulations.
Accordingly, the Federal Government of Nigeria ("FGN")
established the Nigeria Single Window Trade Portal ("Nigeria Trade Portal"), a
cross-government website that opens a new era for trade facilitation by
offering a single portal for trade actors (both Nigerian and international) to
access a full range of resources and standardized services from different Nigerian
government agencies. The Nigeria Trade Portal provides a single digital
platform where electronic formats of the documents required by the various
participating government agencies or regulators, in a business transaction, can
be uploaded seamlessly and at once.
In furtherance of the integration/collaboration goal of the FGN,
major Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government ("MDAs") have
digitalized, or are digitizing, their processes. For instance, the Corporate
Affairs Commission (CAC) has digitalized the processes and documents required
for filing by customers and licensed professionals. Similarly, the Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other tax authorities have digitalized their
processes for the payment of taxes by taxpayers and tax consultants. Same holds
for other MDAs, including the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Ports
Authority (NPA), and the NCS.
In support of this reform, the CBN, in Memorandum 9 of its
Revised Foreign Exchange Manual, effective August 1, 2018, finally replaced the
Form "M" (Application to import physical goods/capital goods, otherwise known
as visible trade transactions) with the digitized e-Form 'M'.
With the integration on the Nigeria Trade Portal, of NAFDAC
e-Permits/Licenses and the e-Form 'M', Trading Across Borders; an important
reform agenda in the drive to make Nigeria a progressively easier place to do
business, is expected to improve, particularly for NAFDAC regulated products.
The Grey Matter Concept is an initiative of the law
firm, Banwo & Ighodalo
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Contact Persons
OLUMIDE
OSUNDOLIRE
CHINASA UWANNA
osundolire@banwo-ighodalo.com
cuwanna@banwo-ighodalo.com
ARAMIDE SANNI
OLUWATOBA OGUNTUASE
asanni@banwo-ighodalo.com ooguntuase@banwo-ighodalo.com
DISCLAIMER: This article is only intended to provide general
information on the subject matter and does not by itself create a
client/attorney relationship between readers and our Law Firm or serve as legal
advice. Specialist legal advice should be sought about the readers’ specific
circumstances when they arise.
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