The British government said on Monday that it has reduced tariffs and broadened duty-free trade for Nigerian exports.
This was said by Mr. Ben Llewellyn-Jones, Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, during the opening of the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) at the Eko Hotel on Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to Llewellyn-Jones, the plan would assist to increase Nigeria’s non-oil exports in accordance with the Federal Government’s broader trade policy goals and will launch in April 2023.
He added that the program will lower import costs by more than £750 million per year, so decreasing prices and expanding consumer and corporate options in the United Kingdom.
“The British government has lowered tariffs on ninety percent of Nigeria’s exports to our nation and established a preferential trade program for a variety of Nigeria’s other commodities.
“We have gone out to small and big firms in many regions of the country in an effort to assist exporters and others in the trade industry in making the United Kingdom a destination for exports.
“This would also be a chance to build the non-oil and gas industry in Nigeria and generate employment, and most importantly, we are reaching out to people at the grassroots level so they can understand what we are doing.
“The DCTS is far more liberal and straightforward than the current Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP),” he stated.
Llewellyn-Jones said that the bilateral trade volume for 2022 was 2,2 billion pounds, with the oil and gas industry accounting for the bulk of the exchange.
He emphasized the need of growing the market and diversifying into other industries, such as exporting.
“We must shift our attention to the non-oil sector, but this will take time. In the meanwhile, we are collaborating with specialists from the Nigeria Export Promotion Council and the Federal Government to build the economy by increasing exports.
“The greatest difficulty for exporters is finding essential partners in the United Kingdom to sell their goods, but we are striving to connect exporters with prospective customers so that there is sufficient demand and supply,” he added.
Mr. Simon Calvert, Senior Commercial Agriculture Adviser, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), said that Nigeria does not need international treaties to profit from the DCTS.
He stated that the British government will facilitate exporters’ access to its banking institutions.
