Here the list of goods the importation of which is absolutely prohibited: air pistols, airmail photographic printing paper, base or counterfeit coin of any country, beads composed of inflammable celluloid or other similar substances, blank invoices, coupons for foreign football pools or other betting arrangements, cowries, exhausted tea or tea mixed with other substances, implements appertaining to the reloading of cartridges, indecent or obscene prints, paintings, books, cards, engravings or any indecent or obscene articles, manilas, matches made with white phosphorous, materials of nay description with a design which, considering the purpose for which any such material is intended to be used, is likely in the opinion of the President to create a breach of the peace or to offend the religious views of any class of persons in Nigeria, meat, vegetables or other provisions declared by a health officer to be unfit for human consumption, piece goods and all other textiles including wearing apparel. Hardware of all kinds crockery and china or earthenware goods bearing inscriptions from the Koran or from the traditions and commentaries on the Koran, pistols disguised in any form, second-hand clothing, silver or metal alloy coins not being legal tender in Nigeria, spirits - according to the regulations.
At import level the following documents are required: Commercial invoice: four to six copies of the special form of Nigerian invoice are required. The invoice must contain the full name and address of the manufacturer, supplier or exporter, full name of business and street address of importer, the importer's order number, certificate of value by the manufacturer, supplier or exporter clearly indicating whether the exporter is the manufacturer or supplier of the goods and whether or not the exporter is any way connected with the importer, certificate of origin, specific description of the goods consigned, unit and total price of each type of goods on the invoice, cost of packing, freight and insurance, commissions, other charges and total price of all the goods on the invoice indicating clearly the FOB and CIF prices.
Pro forma invoice: Four copies are required for submission to the central bank for foreign exchange purposes. It must show FOB price, freight, and all ancillary charges such as commission and the interests' charges separately.
Bill of lading: Shipping marks and numbers on the bill of lading must correspond exactly with those of the invoices and on the goods.
Customs Duties
Imports duties must be paid to specified banks in Nigerian currency using the autonomous rate of exchange quoted by the Central Bank the previous week. The applicable duties and taxes are as follows: most duties are assessed on an ad valorem basis, with the indicated rates applicable to the following previously prohibited imports: Day-old chicks and parent stock at 5%, wheat and wheat products at 15%, rice and rice products at 50%, fruit juices and fresh and preserved fruit at 75%, and sparkling wine and champagne at 100%.
Labelling and Packaging Regulations
Shippers must ensure that Import Duty Report (IDR) numbers are always quoted on the shipping manifests for all import shipments into the country before such manifests are submitted to the Nigeria Customs Service. For air cargo, the airline must ensure that the IDR number for the relevant goods being carried is always stated on the air-way bill.
All imports of food, drugs, cosmetics and items such as pesticides must be accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis from the manufacturer and country where the goods were manufactured. All items entering the country must be labelled in metric terms exclusively. | 
