The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is an independent agency under the supervisory oversight of the Nigerian Ministry of Finance, responsible for the collection of customs revenue and anti-smuggling efforts.
Import prohibited goods are goods that are banned from importation into the country by the federal government of Nigeria. The prohibition could be for a number of reasons, ranging from security to local industry protection.
In addition to outright prohibition, the government could also decide to restrict the importation of certain goods into the country. These are known as Restricted Imports.
- Live or dead birds including frozen poultry.
- Pork, beef, birds eggs, excluding hatching eggs
- Refined vegetable oils and fats (includes mayonnaise). Crude vegetable oil is NOT banned from importation.
- Cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, in solid form in retail packs.
- Cocoa butter, powder and cakes.
- Spaghetti/noodles.
- Fruit Juice in retail packs.
- Waters, including mineral waters and aerated waters containing added sugar or sweetening matter or flavoured, ice snow, other non-alcoholic beverages and beer and stout (bottled, canned or otherwise packed, but excluding energy or health drinks (liquid dietary supplements).
- Bagged cement.
- Medicaments as indicated below:
- Paracetamol tablets and syrups;
- Cotrimoxazole tablets and syrups;
- Metronidazole tablets and syrups;
- Chloroquine tablets and syrups;
- Haematinic formulations; ferrous sulphate and ferrous gluconate tablets, folic acid tablets, vitamin B complex Tablets (except modified released formulations);.
- Multivitamin tablets, capsules and syrups (except special formulations);
- Aspirin tablets (except modified released formulation and soluble aspirin);
- Magnesium trisilicate tablets and suspensions.
- Piperazine tablets and syrups;
- Levamisole tablets and syrups;
- Clotrimazole cream;
- Ointments – penicillin/gentamycin;
- Pyrantel pamoate tablets and syrups; and
- Intravenous fluids (dextrose, normal saline, etc.).
- Waste Pharmaceuticals.
- Soaps and Detergents in retail packs only.
- Mosquito Repellant Coils.
- Sanitary Wares of Plastics and Domestic Articles and Wares of Plastics (but excluding Baby Feeding bottles) and flushing cistern and waterless toilets.
- Rethreaded and used Pneumatic tires but excluding used trucks tires for rethreading of sized 11.00 x 20 and above.
- Corrugated Paper and Paper Boards, and cartons, boxes and cases made from corrugated paper and paper boards, toilet paper, cleaning or facial tissue, excluding baby diapers and incontinent pads for adult use.
- Telephone Re-charge cards and vouchers.
- Carpets and other textile floor coverings.
- All types of Foot Wears, Bags and Suitcases but excluding Safety Shoes used in oil industries, sports shoes, canvass shoes all Completely Knocked Down (CKD) blanks and parts.
- Hollow Glass Bottles of a capacity exceeding 150mls (0.15 litres) of all kinds used for packaging of beverages by breweries and other beverage and drink companies.
- Used compressors and used fridges/freezers.
- Used Motor Vehicles above fifteen (15) years from the year of manufacture.
- Furniture, but excluding baby walkers, laboratory cabinets such as microscope table, fume cupboards, laboratory benches, Stadium Chairs, height adjustments device, base sledge, seat frames and control mechanism, arm guide and head guides. Also excluded are; skeletal parts of furniture such as blanks, unholstered or unfinished part of metal, plastics, veneer, chair shell etc. Also excluded are Motor Vehicle seats and Seats other than garden seats or camping equipment, convertible into beds.
- Ball Point Pens and parts including refills (excluding tip).
Besides the outright import ban, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not provide foreign exchange for the import of many items, such as those listed below. The implication of this is that those who import these items can no longer buy foreign currency from the official window to pay the overseas suppliers. Instead, they have to source forex from the parallel market or Bureau De Change to pay for their imports.
The categories of items include the following:
- Rice
- Cement
- Margarine
- Palm kernel/Palm oil products/vegetable oils
- Meat and processed meat products
- Vegetables and processed vegetable products
- Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey
- Private aeroplanes/jets
- Indian incense
- Tinned fish in sauce(Geisha)/sardines
- Cold rolled steel sheets
- Galvanized steel sheets
- Roofing sheets
- Wheelbarrows
- Head pans
- Metal boxes and containers
- Enamelware
- Steel drums
- Steel pipes
- Wire rods(deformed and not deformed)
- Iron rods and reinforcing bard
- Wire mesh
- Steel nails
- Security and razor wine
- Wood particle boards and panels
- Wood Fibre Boards and Panels
- Plywood boards and panels
- Wooden doors
- Toothpicks
- Glass and Glassware
- Kitchen utensils
- Tableware
- Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
- Textiles
- Woven fabrics
- Clothes
- Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers
- Soap and cosmetics
- Tomatoes/tomato pastes
- Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases