Section 1: Pre-shipment inspection of goods

(1) As from the commencement of this Act, no goods to which this Act applies shall be exported from Nigeria unless an inspecting agent appointed pursuant to section 12 of this Act has issued in respect of the goods a Clean Certificate of Inspection to the overseas buyers of the goods.
(2) For the avoidance of doubt, no agency or department of any government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall as from the commencement of this Act issue Clean Certificate of Findings in respect of the goods to which this Act applies except the inspecting agent appointed pursuant to section 12 of this Act.
(3) Any person intending to export any goods to which this Act applies shall, prior to the shipment of those goods from Nigeria-
(a) complete and furnish his bank with such number of copies of the prescribed form as may be specified in guidelines issued pursuant to this Act; and
(b) provide such additional information as may be required, from time to time, by the bank and any appropriate agency of the Federal Government.
(4) To facilitate the carrying out of the duties imposed on an inspecting agent by or pursuant to this Act, the exporter shall, in addition to the requirements referred to in subsection (3) of this section, ensure that-
(a) the inspecting agent is given not less than ten days' notice prior to the proposed date of the pre-shipment inspection;
(b) the inspecting agent is provided with a copy of the pro-forma invoice, indent, purchase order, price list, letter of credit, contract agreement and any other document relevant to the transaction and which the inspecting agent may consider necessary for the proper carrying out of the pre-shipment inspection;
(c) the inspecting agent is provided with all necessary facilities to enable the inspecting agent to carry out quality and quantity inspections, price comparison and other processes as may be required in the circumstances;
(d) all necessary arrangements are made for the handling, presentation, including unpacking and repacking, sampling, shop testing and any other thing required to be done in connection with the inspection of the goods;
(e) the inspecting agent is provided with a copy of the final invoice covering the goods; and
(f) he complies with such other conditions as may be prescribed.
(5) The goods which are liable to pre-shipment inspection by an inspecting agent and the type of pre-shipment to which some goods or categories of goods shall be subject, are as set out in sections 2, 4, 5 and 6 of this Act.
(6) For the purposes of this section and the other provisions of this Act-
"pre-shipment inspection" means inspection of goods in Nigeria prior to the shipment of those goods outside Nigeria.