…as phase 2 begins
The Federal Government has announced plans to integrate the application and processing of the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) directly into the National Single Window portal as part of drive to digitize fiscal incentives, centralize trade documentation, and streamline port operations.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, Tola Fakolade, Director of the National Single Window Project and Head of Secretariat, revealed that the IDEC process would transition to the unified portal under the Phase 2 implementation.
Fakolade explained that while application processing, document verification, and inter-agency routing would occur seamlessly within the single window portal, final evaluation, authority, and statutory approval for the import duty exemption certificate will remain under the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The platform, he said, coordinates agency systems behind a single digital interface, allowing importers, exporters, and customs agents to experience government trade administration as a unified entity.
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According to Fakolade, the strategic shift will allow importers seeking fiscal concessions to initiate and monitor their exemption requests through the single window system, eliminating cumbersome paper trails and operational delays across government agencies.
Under Phase 2 of the National Single Window project, the commercial (NXP) and non-commercial (SCX/NCX) regulatory export forms will also be integrated onto the central portal. This allows individuals, companies, and logistics agents to apply for all regulatory export clearances in one place
“The Single Window will also be the platform where all the regulatory forms that CBN requires, like from NXP form and SCX. All that application will now be done on Single Window. So, we are also working and collaborating very closely with CBN.
“We also plan to launch the import duty exemption certificate on the Single Window. What that means is that the applications for that will happen on Single Window, and of course, the final approval will still come from the Federal Ministry of Finance. We’re also working with the free trade zones, with NEPZA, and other players in free trade zones”, he said.
He explained that since the launch of the National Single Window in March 2026, over 156,000 licenses and permits have been processed through the platform, with over 12,000 registered importers and agents.
Fakolade also stated that while the first phase was focused on simplifying import processes, the second phase would focus on streamlining exports processes.
To achieve this, Fakolade said that efforts were ongoing to integrate the Nigerian Exports Promotion Council, the Federal Produce Inspection Service and the Registered Export Systems, both under the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments, Standard Organisation of Nigeria among others.
He also added that to ensure smooth adoption across the maritime and aviation trade sectors, over 8,000 industry users and trade representatives had undergone formal operational training across major commercial hubs.
“We have trained over 8,000 users, and like we mentioned, we continue to see really strong adoption among our users, and strong compliance as well among our users. What the Single Window really does is it really helps to drive compliance.
“So, Single Window contributes in terms of addressing some of the challenges that importers, or even exporters, face today, to simplify that process, and to ensure that goods can come out of our ports in the shortest period that’s possible,” Fakolade added.
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