Nigeria approves creation of Nigerian office for Trade Negotiations

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, on Wednesday disclosed this in Abuja shortly after the meeting which was presided over by Nigeria’s Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

He said the office would help in the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, as it involves engagement with other countries and would guard against dumping and substandard goods.

“We get involved in a lot of negotiations and a lot of MoUs signed on trade. What we found was that this was happening in various Ministries, Agencies and Departments with insufficient coordination and therefore, frequently, it had unintended consequences and costs for us.

“The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations will be headed by a Chief Negotiator of Ambassadorial rank that will then work with both the economic management team and the cabinet.

“Some of the objectives of that office will be to help us to coordinate the various trade discussions and negotiations that will hold, and to achieve coherence in our policies so that our policies will pull our trade together,” the Trade Minister said.

Briefing journalists on the recent developments in the health sector, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, explained why a new yellow card was in the offing.

“One of the challenges we had in the past with the current yellow card is that it could be issued by anybody, and those who did not even receive the vaccination could also get a card signed for them.

“With this new card, you cannot fake the yellow card using a card reader. We can also document your vaccination status, so we know whether you have been genuinely vaccinated or not,” he said.