Customs Launches ‘One-Stop-Shop’ to Cut Clearance Time to 48 Hours

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has unveiled a One-Stop-Shop (OSS) initiative aimed at cutting cargo clearance time to 48 hours and eliminating redundant checks at seaports and land borders.

Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi, represented by Deputy Controller Timi Bomodi, announced the reform in Lagos, describing it as part of Nigeria’s broader business environment reforms under Executive Order 001 and the Business Facilitation Act.

The OSS integrates valuation, Customs Processing Centres, intelligence, enforcement, compliance monitoring, and gate operations into a single workflow, supported by digital tracking and clear escalation paths.

“This initiative reduces clearance time by eliminating duplicated reviews and sequential inspections, supporting a 48-hour clearance target and improving significantly on historical dwell times,” Adeniyi said.

He explained that fragmented risk interventions had previously created multiple checkpoints, repeated documentation requests, and delays.

The OSS now centralises interventions, lowers compliance costs, and strengthens revenue assurance through improved profiling and coordinated enforcement.

The system also enhances transparency with digital audit trails and aligns post-clearance controls with international best practice by assigning them to the Post Clearance Audit Unit.

“Technology alone does not reform institutions, which is why OSS deployment has been supported by process reengineering, officer training, and change management,” Adeniyi added.

The reform is expected to boost Nigeria’s competitiveness, with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council already noting measurable progress, though challenges remain with bureaucratic bottlenecks and weak consequence management.

Customs said the initiative will improve efficiency, accountability, and service delivery, positioning Nigeria’s trade facilitation framework closer to global standards under the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.