The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom are nearing completion of negotiations on a Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement (CMAA) designed to strengthen information sharing, customs compliance and trade facilitation between Nigeria and the UK.
The development followed a high-level bilateral meeting between officials of both customs administrations at the NCS headquarters in Maitama, Abuja, from Thursday, September 25 to Friday, September 26, 2026.
Representing the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of the Strategic, Research and Policy Department, Nafi’u Isyaku, said the meeting was convened to resolve outstanding issues ahead of the proposed signing of the agreement in December.
Isyaku said negotiations on the CMAA had been conducted virtually for about six months before both sides decided to meet physically to accelerate the process and conclude the outstanding areas of discussion.
He said the agreement would provide a stronger framework for cooperation between the two customs administrations, particularly through enhanced information exchange, compliance and trade facilitation.
Senior Policy Adviser at HMRC, Syed Moinuddin, described the engagement as an opportunity for both administrations to work through areas of cooperation and establish a framework that reflects the interests of the two authorities.
He said the meeting would further strengthen the relationship between the NCS and HMRC within the wider international customs community.
Also speaking, Louisa Bentley, Head of Bilateral Relations and Agreements at HMRC, said the two-day negotiations had been successful, stressing that both sides were close to finalising the agreement.
According to her, the agreement would boost trade by improving compliance and information sharing between HMRC and the NCS, while enhancing trade facilitation and enabling both countries to take greater advantage of global trade opportunities.
The HMRC delegation also toured key facilities at the NCS headquarters, including the Trade Modernisation Project Limited office, Pre-Arrival Assessment Report office and Nigeria Customs Broadcasting Network station.
Bentley commended the reforms being implemented by the NCS, particularly in technology and personnel training, saying the developments would support more modern and efficient trade processes.
The bilateral engagement ended on Friday with a tour of key departments and operational units at the Customs headquarters, providing the HMRC delegation an opportunity to observe ongoing reforms and operational developments within the NCS.
