The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, on Wednesday revealed plans by the Nigerian Government to increase customs duties on tomato imports and remove the tariffs on some farming equipment.

This is aimed at promoting local production and investment in the agricultural sector.

According to the Minister, the tax on some greenhouse equipment which currently amounts to as much as 20% would be removed.

“We are going to go up. We will be announcing what the new tariffs are but clearly, there is a new set of tariffs. We are going to restrict imports of finished tomato products that can be produced locally,” he said without giving further details.

Nigeria produces about 1.8 million tons of tomatoes annually, making it the 14th largest producer in the world, the biggest in sub-Saharan Africa. But it is the eighth largest importer of tomato paste after Iraq and Japan. The West African country has a significant demand for processed tomatoes as it consumes about 2.3 million tons of tomatoes annually.

The Federal Government has been encouraging local food production to reduce its high import bill and end dependence on oil exports which accounts for 75% of its revenue and forex earnings.

Anita Fatunji