1. Any person intending to import physical goods into Nigeria shall in the first instance process Form “M” through any Authorized dealer bank irrespective of the value and whether or not payment is involved;
2. The Form “M” shall have a validity period of six months for all imports except Plants and Machinery which shall have a validity period of one year. Requests for subsequent re validation thereafter should be directed to the Director of Trade and Exchange Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
3. Supporting documents shall be clearly marked “Valid For Forex/Not Valid for Forex” as appropriate i.e. depending on whether or not foreign exchange remittance would be involved.
4. All applications for goods subject to Destination Inspection shall carry the ” BA” code, while those exempted shall include “CB” in the prefix of the numbering system of the Form “M”. Payments for goods exempted from Destination Inspection under the Scheme, would not be carried out in the Foreign Exchange Market, without a prior approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The list of goods exempted from Destination Inspection shall be as approved by the Honorable Minister of Finance and the approval shall be a pre-condition for the completion of Form M exempted from Destination Inspection.
5. The Form ‘M’ and the relevant pro-forma invoice ( which shall have a validity period of three months) shall carry a proper description of the goods to be imported to facilitate price verification viz;
1. Generic product name, i.e. product type, category
2. Mark or brand name of the product where applicable
3. Model name and or model or reference number. where applicable
4. Description of the quality, grade, specification, capacity, size, performance etc.
5. Quantity and packaging and/or packing
6. Form ‘M’ shall be valid for importation only after acceptance by the relevant Scanning /Risk Management Provider. Consequently, Authorized Dealers are to confirm acceptance of the Form M before proceeding with other import processes.
7. Documents in respect of each import transaction shall carry the name of the product, country of origin, specifications, date of manufacture, batch or lot number, Standards to which the goods have been produced (e.g. NIS, British Standards – PD. ISO, IES, DIN, etc).
8. All goods to be imported into the country shall be labeled in ENGLISH in addition to any other language of transaction; otherwise the goods shall be confiscated.
9. Where import items such as food, drinks, cosmetics, drugs, medical devices, chemicals, etc. are regulated for health or environmental reasons, they shall carry EXPIRY dates or the shelf life and specify the active ingredients, where applicable.
10. Electrical appliances (fluorescent lamps, electric bulbs, electric irons and ties, etc) shall carry information on life performance while cables shall carry information on the ratings.
