Seme Vehicle Import Ban: NCS Sets Integration Condition
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has indicated that the restriction on vehicle imports through the Seme-Krake land border could be lifted once Nigeria and Benin Republic complete an ongoing customs interconnectivity framework for real-time information sharing and coordinated border management.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Friday during an assessment visit to the Joint Nigeria-Benin Republic One Stop Border Post.
Adeniyi, however, stressed that any decision to remove the restriction would depend largely on the successful implementation of the emerging trans-border trade information system.
According to him, Nigeria and Benin currently operate from the same border facility but lack a common platform capable of exchanging customs information in real time.
He described the absence of such interconnectivity as a major obstacle to the effective operation of the joint border post, despite the completion of its physical infrastructure several years ago.
“Without interconnectivity, this is not a joint border post. It is a border post sharing a car park at best,” he said.
The Customs chief said the NCS had offered to help address the technological and operational gaps between the Nigerian and Beninese customs administrations.
He explained that the initiative would go beyond vehicle imports to cover the broader harmonisation of cross-border trade restrictions and procedures.
Under the proposed common data exchange platform, customs declarations lodged on one side of the border would be visible to the other administration in real time.
The system would also facilitate the tracking of transit cargo from origin to destination, while enabling risk profiles and enforcement alerts generated by one customs administration to reach its counterpart when the information remained operationally relevant.
Adeniyi said the framework was being developed based on experience from regional transit operations and was intended to build greater confidence among customs administrations, freight forwarders, traders and other stakeholders.
He said the objective was to demonstrate that Customs was not merely an enforcement agency but also a critical institution for facilitating legitimate trade.
The Comptroller-General added that an interoperable platform would assist traders operating across countries with different languages, currencies and regulatory regimes by providing a common technological framework for cross-border transactions.
The development followed an appeal by the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Seme Chapter, Alhaji Toyin Wasiu, for the reopening of the border to vehicle imports.
Responding to the appeal, Adeniyi said lifting the restriction could become possible once the Nigeria-Benin Republic trans-border trade interconnectivity arrangement became functional.
He stressed that the removal of existing trade barriers would be tied to the outcome of the emerging joint border-management and trade-interconnectivity architecture.
“Like the ANLCA Chairman requested in his remarks, we are all here to achieve the process for seamless trade,” Adeniyi said.
He explained that once the interconnectivity scheme became fully operational, the NCS would be better positioned to harmonise trade restrictions and address operational bottlenecks affecting legitimate commerce along the corridor.
Adeniyi also emphasised the need to build confidence among regulatory agencies, operators and traders on both sides of the border before the vehicle-import restriction could be reconsidered.
The development followed the launch of the Joint Nigeria-Benin Republic One Stop Border Post Assessment, aimed at deepening cooperation between the two customs administrations and improving the efficiency of cross-border trade.
The Directeur Général of Benin Customs, Col. Raouf Malehhossou Aboudou, commended Adeniyi for what he described as a pragmatic and purposeful approach to reinventing customs operational systems to improve trans-border trade.
Aboudou pledged the support of the Benin Customs Administration for the initiative, particularly the recalibration of joint assessments and efforts to strengthen operational cooperation.
He assured that Benin Customs officers would work closely with their Nigerian counterparts to achieve the objectives of the joint border-management initiative.
The proposed reform has significant implications for the Seme-Krake corridor, where the reopening of vehicle imports would depend not only on a policy decision but also on the ability of both countries to establish an integrated system capable of reconciling declarations, tracking cargo and coordinating enforcement in real time.
Digital customs integration and regulatory harmonisation have therefore emerged as key conditions in any future decision to lift the vehicle-import restriction, rather than the restriction being treated as an isolated trade-policy issue.
