Exports: Shippers, airlines defy CBN’s directives, face sanctions
The Central Bank of Nigeria said on Tuesday that its directives on exports of goods from the country had not been complied with by shipping companies and airlines.
The CBN, in a circular signed by its Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Dr O.S. Nnaji, said it would slam erring operators with “severe sanctions” including freezing of their bank accounts.
It said it had “observed with dismay the non-compliance by shipping and airline companies to the provisions of the circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/009 dated June 6, 2017, requiring that bills of lading/airway bill in respect of exports from Nigeria carry the FORM NXP number in respect of the underlying cargo.”
The central bank said the circular dated October 28, 2019, which mandated electronic processing of Form NXP on the Trade Monitoring System, had also not been complied with.
It said, “In line with the provisions of these circulars, shipping and airline companies are required to access the TRMS platform to generate Form NXP numbers for capture on the bill of lading for export cargoes.
“It shall be a breach of extant regulations for any shipping or airline company to take on-board any cargo for which Form NXP is not duly completed and approved on the TRMS platform, failing which severe sanctions shall be meted for such breach, such sanctions shall include refund of the forex value of goods illegally exported as well as Post-No-Debit on all bank accounts nationwide.”
