The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to change its trade policy from the present Free on Board (FOB) to Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) which most countries across the world use because of its economic benefits, before the end of the year. FOB makes it mandatory for the buyer to determine who ships and insures the goods to his port of destination while the CIF ensures that the seller determines who ships and who insures the goods brought from him. Presently, goods bought from Nigeria are on FOB basis while Nigerian trade with other nations is on a CIF basis.

Disclosing the position of the federal government to Vanguard in Houston, Texas at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), Leke Oyewole, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, said work has been completed on the document for a change in policy so as to help indigenous operators. (?)

The Economic Management Team (EMT) is to take a final look at the policy before returning it to the President for it to be signed into law.

Asked whether the policy would be reversed before the end of the year, the Special Adviser to the President said, ” I am hopeful, am very hopeful, but you also know that if today the President signs the policy into law, Nigerians would not begin by tomorrow. We need to give time sufficient enough for Nigerians to acquire vessels to begin to carry.”

He noted that the country presently “operates on FOB, in which case, as soon as we put cargo onboard the ship, foreign funds are released to Nigeria. When we go on CIF, it will mean waiting until delivery of cargo, before the money will come into Nigeria. There will be a gap, that gap most not be too wide otherwise it will hamper the national funding because we get most of our revenue from these products (petroleum products). Source: Vanguard, Lagos.