WorldStage Newsonline– The ECOWAS Commission, on Monday in Lagos, launched a digital certificate of origin (e-CO) system to streamline cross-border trade within ECOWAS member-states.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs Massandje Toure-Litse, said during the launch that the e-CO system would reduce fraud, increase transparency and facilitate movement of goods.
Toure-Litse, represented by the Director of Customs Union and Taxation, Mr Salifou Tiemtore, said that the current manual process for certificates of origin was prone to fraud and inefficiency.
She said, “Unfortunately, as we have experienced over the years in West Africa, the manual process relating to the application for certificate of origin, its delivery as a paper document, approval by customs prior to export and presentation to customs of the country of importation as proof of origin and therefore eligible for tariff preference, have become cumbersome and very often, subject to fraud.
“This has eroded confidence in the proof of origin, with falsified paper certificates of origin being used to secure tariff preferences, thereby denying parties the benefits of trade liberalisation.
“I must say that customs administrations spend a longer time verifying the authenticity of certificates of origin.
“The entire certificate of origin regime has therefore become an impediment to the free movement of goods in an era where trade facilitation is the name of the game.’’
According to the commissioner, the ECOWAS e-CO Hub will digitise the entire process, from application to delivery.
Toure-Litse said that the end-to-end and origin-to-destination digitisation of the ECOWAS certificate of origin would cover application for and delivery of certificates of origin and signature.
She said that it would also cover electronic submission to customs for approval prior to export and subsequent digital signature by customs, as well as transmission to customs of the importing country through a secure and dedicated system.
The commissioner added that the end-to-end digitisation which would transcend the national to the regional level with its digital signature, would eliminate human intervention.
She said that this would reduce fraud, engender transparency, reduce processing times, reduce costs and improve trade facilitation.
Mrs Aissata Koffi, Head of Customs Matters, ECOWAS Community, said that Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal had been selected as pilot countries for the e-CO Hub.
She said that the countries had harmonised their customs systems to facilitate integration of the platform.
“This tool that we have launched today is one of the best we can say in the whole Africa, because now, we can say that we have been able to connect customs to customs within our community, and then create trust in our region as far as movement of community goods is concerned,’’ she said.
Mr Nafiu Isiyaku, Comptroller in charge of Trade Facilitation, Use of Origin and AFCFTA, Nigeria Customs Service, Abuja, highlighted how digitisation would improve trade facilitation, reduce costs and promote economic growth within the ECOWAS region.
“This will prevent forgery and misuse and ensure authenticity because, once a digital certificate is used for a specific transaction, it cannot be reused, and this will prevent fraudulent activities.
“This will also improve customs efficiency because customs authorities can easily verify the authenticity of digital certificates, thereby, reducing the risk of errors and delays.
`’Digitisation reduces the time and effort required for customs clearance,’’ he said.
The e-CO launch, which was both in-person and virtual, had representatives of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat and African Development Bank in attendance.
Other participants include World Customs Organisation ECOWAS member-states and the organised private sector.
