Again, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has reiterated it plans to expand the volume of non-oil export trade to China.

NEPC also disclosed, with the help of its Market Access Department (MAD), Nigerian exporters would be equipped and enlightened on how to leverage the General Administration of Chinese Customs (GACC), a new clearing system introduced by the Chinese government in 2021 to boost non-oil export trade to China.

The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak, at the sensitisation exercise on GACC in Lagos, said the implication of the new policy is that no agricultural products from Nigeria are allowed into China without prior registration of the companies and their products under the scheme with competent authority.

He added that GACC is a policy that requires all overseas food manufacturers, processors and storage facilities to register under the GACC and ensure compliance with Chinese import policies before they can export to China.

Represented by the director of the International Export Office, NEPC, Mr. Babatunde Faleke, he said, prior to now, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) were registered by the Chinese authority as facilitators for Nigerian products under the new programme, but however, stated that, in order to fast track the clearance of exports from Nigeria, the Nigeria Regional Investments and Trade Office (RITO) in Shanghai, China requested for the accreditation of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to further enhance the processes.

He bemoaned that the council has, in recent times, been inundated with complaints of cargoes arriving in China and could not be cleared or released, expressing hopes that after the sensitisation exercise, the issues would be addressed, and exporters will be properly guided before shipping their products to China.

He said, so far, between November last year to date, the council had registered 34 companies and 11 different products under the scheme

Mr. Akintunde Folorunsho, the regional coordinator, NEPC, Southwest Regional Office, Lagos, also speaking, said it is mandatory for any exporter of the agricultural products registered under the scheme to comply with the regulation or else, their products will not be allowed into the country even as the council has been appointed a competent authority in Nigeria for GACC based on its mandate in export.