The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a circular signed by O.S. Nnaji, its director, trade and exchange department, and titled, ‘Automation of Form NCX on the trade monitoring system’, has said it will begin charging N5000 as fee for every declaration using the automated Non-Commercial exports (NCX) Form (NCX Form) for stakeholders in the business sector effective November 30, 2021.
The circular published on the CBN’s website noted that all authorised dealers were required to ensure that the processing of Form NCX should only be done electronically on the Trade Monitoring System’s website while all hard copies of Form NCX established on or before November 30, 2021 (prior to the commencement of the e-Form NCX) should be utilised within 90 days of the establishment of the form.
The NCX form is required to be completed by shippers or agents when payments are not expected for goods to be shipped to any destination outside Nigeria and must be submitted to the bank for approval, which is subject to the stipulated guidelines in the foreign exchange manual. The apex bank also stated that the e-Form NCX, though web-based, allows non-commercial exporters to initiate the form from their offices or homes and submit the same to the authorised dealer bank.
The circular, which was directed to all concerned, reads: “This is to inform all authorised dealers, the Nigerian Customs Service, Shipping lines and Airlines, national Museums and Monuments as well as to the general public of the deployment of e-Form NCX.
“Accordingly, the e-Form NCX shall replace the hard copy of the Form NCX for non-commercial exports, with effect from November 30, 2021.
“A charge of N5,000 as the fee per declaration of e-Form NCX is applicable with effect from November 30, 2021, and henceforth.
“There will be a direct debit of the processing bank’s current account for each declaration, which should be recovered from the customer by the bank. However, the charge on the customer for the e-Form NCX should be separate from other bank charges,” the CBN said.
The apex bank had earlier announced the replacement of the hard copy of the Form ‘A’ with the e-Form ‘A’ for invincible transactions such as personal travel allowance, business travel allowances, medicals, education and other remittances with effect from November 30, 2021, and that the processing of the form ‘A’ will be done electronically on the Trade Monitoring System. It further noted that the general public is required to obtain a valid bank verification number (BVN, which is a prerequisite for customers to access the trading system, from their authorised dealer banks.
