Development and deployment of a Trade Monitoring System.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, as part of its 1st phase of automating the related trade monitoring activities and leveraging on the initiative of the modernization project of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) by the Federal Government of Nigeria, integrated its requirements of a Trade Monitoring System (TRMS) into the Nigeria Single Window for Trade (NSW). CBN in collaboration with NCS, therefore, automated the process for Import of commercial products, generally described as Form “M”, in Phase I of the Project for “Automation of Forex forms”. The other three trade processes – forms (“NXP” (Commercial Export), “NCX” (Non-Commercial Export), and “A” (Invisible Trades) are still being processed manually.

The CBN intended to execute the Phase II of the initiative, being the automation of the other forex processes – forms (i.e. Forms “NXP”, “NCX” and “A”) as well as some enhancements to the already automated form “M”.

In October 2019, the TRMS was released to the public with the automated processes of the NXP form. Currently, the entire trade process surrounding commercial exports from Nigeria is handled on the system.

There are Four (4) portals which make up the entire system.

  • The Applicant Portal: This is where the Exporters access the TRMS. This portal is used to Create, edit, submit and track the status of the Forms.
  • The Authorized Dealer Bank Portal: This portal is used by the Banks to approve, reject and tracks the Forex forms that have been sent to them. The banks can only see and act on forms that have been sent to them specifically by the exporter
  • The Stakeholder Portal: This portal is used by PIAs, NCS, Shipping lines, etc. to approve, reject, and track the Forex forms that have been sent to them.
  • The Administrative Portal: This portal is strictly for the CBN administrators of the TRMS. Creation of stakeholders is done from here.

 

Implemented features on the TRMS

  • Integration with FIRS: The system is able to validate an exporter’s TIN, and also ensure that information from the TRMS is sent only to the registered E-mail of the Exporters.
  • Integration with NEPC: To ensure that all exports are done with validated NEPC certificates.
  • Stakeholders Registration: All stakeholders, such as; Banks, Pre-Shipment Inspection Agents, Nigerian Customs Service, etc., are registered on the System by the Central Bank of Nigeria, to ensure that information provided is authentic.
  • System Workflow: The TRMS ensures that a form initiated by an exporter goes through the trade process as designed in the workflow, ensuring that all stakeholders involved in the successful completion of a forex form can make input to the application.
  • Portal Design: The TRMS was designed with the Nigerian spirit in mind. The colors, pictures and Logos all speak to the Country as a whole.


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