The Nigeria Customs Service says it has resolved the delays experienced by importers in transmitting product certificates for Form M and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria’s Conformity Assessment Programme required for Pre-Arrival Assessment Report processing on the B’Odogwu platform.
In a statement on Thursday, the National Public Relations Officer of the service, Abdullahi Maiwada, acknowledged that the disruption followed technical integration challenges that emerged during onboarding the Standard Organisation of Nigeria on the B’Odogwu platform on July 23, 2025.
He added that the system-related issues temporarily impacted traders’ ability to accurately capture their Form M, PAAR, and Single Goods Declaration.
“The attention of the NCS has been drawn to concerns raised by importers and licensed customs agents regarding recent delays experienced in the transmission of product certificates for Form M and SONCAP required for PAAR processing on the B’Odogwu platform.
“The service acknowledges that the disruption followed technical integration challenges that emerged during the process of onboarding the SON on the B’Odogwu platform on July 23, 2025. These system-related issues temporarily impacted traders’ ability to accurately capture their Form M, PAAR, and SGD,” Maiwada stressed.
According to him, the specific challenges encountered included limited space for trader names, incorrect data formatting, missing 10-digit product codes, ambiguous error prompts, and difficulties linking the Tax Identification Number to traders’ profiles.
“While NCS was able to promptly resolve the issues within its system, further coordination was required to complete the resolution on SON’s side,” he said. Maiwada emphasised that the NCS is willing to confirm that both agencies have successfully resolved the transmission issues.
He stressed that product certificates and SONCAP documents are now being transmitted seamlessly, and the backlog of affected transactions is being cleared.
The NCS spokesperson highlighted that in a bid to continuously support stakeholders, “the NCS has rolled out nationwide implementation of the B’Odogwu platform across Zones A, B, C, and D, with trained officers on the ground to provide hands-on technical assistance to traders and licensed agents.”
Maiwada stated that the service remains committed to transparency, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement. “Regular training sessions for stakeholders are ongoing across various commands. These sessions not only build user capacity but also serve as a channel for surfacing and resolving operational challenges on the platform,” he concluded.
