As of 25 March, the Nigerian Customs Service has re-introduced the policy to restrict rice imports through land borders across the country. A full ban on all rice imports into the country was first introduced in July 2015 with the aim to promote self-sufficiency in rice through encouraging domestic production. The ban was partially lifted in October 2015, when imports through the land borders were once again allowed after the payment of appropriate duty and charges. However, official imports recorded in the following months, did not match the export records of neighbouring countries, which reported larger volumes, indicating that controlling the flow of imports across the land borders was problematic and implying significant smuggling had taken place and the expected revenue from the imports had not been generated.