Nigeria Member profile
No notifications submitted by Nigeria
Trade policy review
Latest Trade Policy Review (Report by the WTO Secretariat): WT/TPR/S/462/Rev.1
A. Import prohibitions and restrictions and import licensing
3.48.
Nigeria bans the import of certain goods, applying two types of import prohibition lists. One list covers 20 product groups whose importation is "absolutely prohibited"[195], while the second is a list of items "prohibited for import" that includes items in 25 categories[196] covering approximately 5% of tariff lines at the 10-digit level.[197] According to the authorities, these prohibitions do not apply to exports from other ECOWAS members, while imports of goods from the second list from free zones are permitted as long as a 35% value addition criterion is met (Section 3.3.1).
3.49.
Goods on the "prohibited for import" list can actually be imported but require a non-automatic licence (or "waiver"), often allocated to very select enterprises, at times only those enterprises also producing like goods.[198] They include items such as certain refined vegetable oils and fats, sugar, noodles, tomatoes, fruit juices, bagged cement, soaps and detergents, footwear, used motor vehicles older than 12 years, ballpoint pens, and certain medicines. Such waivers are granted by the Federal Ministry of Finance and no information regarding the process to apply for such waivers was available other than that a request should be accompanied by a justification. Each year during the review period, broadly around 120 waivers for these goods were issued, although the authorities pointed out that related processes are not automated and consolidated figures are therefore difficult to establish. Based on available trade data, imports of goods covered by this import prohibition list accounted for approximately 6% to 7% of Nigeria's imports, indicating significant use of such "waivers".
3.50.
Some other products, such as motor fuels, are also subject to import licences under defined conditions. No comprehensive list of items subject to licensing under defined conditions, including those covered by international agreements or related to security measures, was available. Nigeria has not made any notifications regarding quantitative restrictions since 2003.[199] Nigeria last responded to the annual questionnaire on import licensing in 2012, saying it did not maintain a general import licensing regime.[200]
3.51.
Restrictions that had been in place since June 2015 on obtaining FX at official exchange rates for the import of originally 41 (subsequently increased to 43) groups of goods remained in effect until 12 October 2023.[201] These restrictions, which were not notified to the WTO, affected over 936 product lines[202], covering products ranging from food items such as rice, tomatoes, oils, and meats to manufactured goods such as certain steel, wood (including toothpicks), textiles, plastics, and cosmetics products. Certain products were covered both by import bans and restrictions on obtaining FX, creating additional uncertainty and governance loopholes.[203] As exchange rates in the official and parallel markets continued to significantly diverge during most of the review period, this measure effectively made the import of these goods more expensive, functioning like an additional tariff for importers without access to the official exchange rate.
3.52.
From August 2019, Nigeria partially closed two main land borders (with Benin) for trade, a measure that was expanded in October 2019 to all land borders and that remained in place until the COVID-19 pandemic hit.[204] In March 2020, Nigeria closed its land borders completely, with trade allowed to take place again from the end of 2020 as four borders were reopened in time for the entry into force of the AfCFTA.[205] Some of the other land borders remained closed at least until June 2024.[206] The prohibition on importing shipments of rice and vehicles from non-ECOWAS countries via land borders remains in place as of June 2024.
B. Export prohibitions and restrictions
3.62.
Nigeria maintains a list of products subject to export prohibitions, which include maize, timber (rough or sawn), raw hides and skin (including wet blue and all unfinished leather), scrap metals, unprocessed rubber latex and rubber lumps, artifacts and antiquities, and wildlife animals classified as endangered species and their products.[218] According to the authorities, these prohibitions are strictly enforced and no related export licences can be granted.
3.63.
Nigeria has not made any notifications regarding quantitative restrictions since 2003.[219]
WTO's environmental database (EDB)
The EDB contains environment-related measures that may qualify as QRs and therefore should be notified under the QR Decision.