The Federal Government has banned the importation of poultry products, cement, pharmaceutical items and several agricultural goods from countries outside the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as part of a revised import prohibition regime.
The directive was contained in a circular issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance and signed by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, dated April 1, 2026, which was seen by TheCable. The circular stated that the affected items form part of 17 goods placed on the revised import prohibition list.
The circular explained that the “Import Prohibition list (Trade), applicable only to certain goods originating from non-ECOWAS Member States. It consists of 17 items,” adding that the measure is part of the 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures (FPM) and tariff amendments introduced by the government.
It further provided a transitional arrangement, granting importers a 90-day grace period from April 1, 2026, to clear consignments already processed under existing agreements.
The ministry stated that “a grace period of ninety (90) days, commencing from the effective date of implementation of this circular, i.e., 1st April 2026, shall be granted to all importers who had opened Form ‘M’ and must have entered into irrevocable Trade Agreement before the coming into effect of this circular, to process and clear their goods at the prevailing duty rates.”
However, it stressed that any new import transaction from April 1, 2026, “shall be subjected to the new import duty regime,” noting that the Fiscal Policy Measures supersede those of 2023 and “shall be published in the Official Federal Government Gazette.”
The affected items on the revised prohibition list include live or dead birds, including frozen poultry; pork and beef products such as tongues, livers and shoulders of bovine animals; bird eggs excluding hatching eggs for breeding and research; refined vegetable oil excluding linseed, castor, olive oil and hydrogenated vegetable fats as well as crude vegetable oil; cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose in solid form with added flavouring or colouring; cocoa butter, powder and cakes including cocoa fat and natural cocoa butter; tomatoes in any form including paste and concentrates; waters including mineral and aerated waters with added sugar, flavouring or sweetening as well as other non-alcoholic beverages; bagged cement; medicaments under several categories; waste pharmaceuticals; mineral or chemical fertilisers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK); soaps and detergents; corrugated paper and paper boards including cartons, boxes and cases; hollow glass bottles above 150 millilitres capacity; flat-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products of 600mm or more width including clad, plated or coated corrugated materials; and ballpoint pens and parts including refills excluding the pen tip.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government also introduced a 2 per cent green tax surcharge or excise duty on motor vehicles with engine capacities ranging from 2000cc to 3999cc and those above 4000cc.
This comes as Kano Times reported on April 17 that the government had earlier reduced tariffs on imported cars, palm oil and sugar under the new fiscal policy measures.
