The Nigeria Customs Service has reiterated that rice remains a restricted commodity in Nigeria, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lifting the ban on its import, News About Nigeria reports.
The spokesperson of the NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, made this known on Saturday, noting that the price of Rice has continued to skyrocket despite the increase in local production and the lift of the ban on foreign exchange for its imports.
Recall that CBN, in October, announced that it had lifted the ban on importers of 43 items restricted from accessing foreign exchange on its official platform, of which Rice was among the items.
However, despite the announcement from the CBN, the cost of purchasing rice has continued to rise, with domestic producers attributing it to the increase in the cost of production.
Others have attributed the limited importation of the commodity to the restriction on the product by the Nigeria Customs Service.
The Nigeria Customs Service had maintained that rice would be confiscated if it was imported via the country’s land borders, stating that the fact that the CBN lifted the forex ban on 43 items did not stop rice from being a restricted commodity.
According to Maiwada, rice remains a restricted item, stressing that there is a difference between restriction and prohibition.
“If you import rice through the land border, it will be confiscated because it is a restricted item. The way vehicles cannot come in through the land border is also how rice cannot come in through the land border,” he said.
