This was announced by the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo, during two-day retreat organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), at the Free Trade Zone, Onne, Rivers State, for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and its agencies.
Speaking with journalists, Awolowo said that the new directive had thrown exporters of charcoal into confusion as some of them had existing agreements with their partners abroad.
He said, “I just got that circular; this is part of the policy somersault we are talking about.”
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He further lamented that the government must explain the reason for the move.
“How can the government ban charcoal when people have been processing it? They did not even carry exporters along,” he added.
Also confirming the development, Customs Public Relations Officer of Tin Can Island Port, Mr. Chris Osunkwo, said they were aware of the ban.
He explained that wood and charcoal were banned because the exporters of these items failed to meet up with the agreement they had with the government on tree planting.