REGULATORY REALITIES IN NIGERIA’s INTERNATIONAL TRADE
LESSONS FROM A PRE-ADVISORY INSPECTION By F.A. Chukwu ESQ Last week, I participated in a regulatory compliance process — specifically, a NAFDAC Pre-Advisory Inspection for a client seeking the NAFDAC Global Listing for Supermarket Items (GLSI) license. Beyond the technicalities of the exercise, the experience reaffirmed something I have seen repeatedly in my little years working in compliance, international trade, and business development: There is a striking knowledge gap or lack of accurate information available to importers in Nigeria’s FMCG and other key international trade sectors. This gap doesn’t only affect new traders. Surprisingly, even " big container traders" with 30 to 40 years of active import/export experience still trade with deep misunderstandings about regulatory requirements and compliance processes around the relevant agencies — NAFDAC, SON, and Customs. Let's not leave out the issue of misinformation and its rapid spread. Once an incorrect inter...