The Federal Government has said that only goods produced in Nigeria are eligible under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), warning that re-exportation of foreign products is not permitted.

Speaking at a one-day sensitisation workshop in Enugu on Tuesday themed ‘Increasing intra-regional trade through ETLS,’ the Director of the ECOWAS National Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olawale Emmanuel Awe, urged businesses in the South East to leverage the scheme to expand their trade across West Africa.

Awe explained that the ETLS allows duty-free movement of goods made within the 15 ECOWAS member states but prohibits the re-export of imported items.

“We don’t want a situation where someone imports from China and re-exports. Only products made in Nigeria are eligible,” he said.

According to him, the ETLS which was established in 1979 as part of ECOWAS’ regional integration efforts aims to promote free trade, strengthen economic cooperation, and enhance industrial development across the sub-region.

He added that Nigerian manufacturers must register their products with the ECOWAS National Unit to benefit from the initiative.

“Any businessperson manufacturing in Nigeria must first register with us. They will need to submit samples of their products, after which the National Approval Committee—comprising the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade, SON, NAFDAC, Customs, MAN Export Group, and NEPC—will inspect their factories to confirm that the products are genuinely made in Nigeria,” Awe explained.

The Federal Government has been holding similar workshops across the country to raise awareness about the scheme and encourage local producers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to take advantage of duty-free access to markets in other ECOWAS member states.