Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 8 • Number 2 • 8th February 2008

Nigeria Seeks to Limit Imports of ‘Junk’ Computers

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Nigeria has announced that it plans to impose a tariff on used computers imported into the country in order to “stem the influx of substandard and unserviceable computers.” Some parts of the used computers have been put to new use, while other components - which often contain toxic substances such as lead and mercury - are directly discarded. The Nigerian move to levy the new tariff comes at a time when dumped computer parts pose growing health and environmental concerns.

According to Nigerian officials, a number of internal factors have contributed to the problem. Nigeria’s growing market for affordable computers, the local culture of “patching things up,” the fact that old computers can be imported duty free, and poor waste management have led to the increase in toxic electronic waste.

External factors have also influenced the growing electronic waste problem in Nigeria. According to Kitan Ogungbuyi, a senior scientist at the Nigerian Environment Ministry, ‘it is easy to disguise the condition’ of what is coming into the country. “Exporters from the North are intentionally mixing bad with good so that they are able to avoid disposal costs,” said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network.

The problems associated with the transboundary movement of electronic wastes have been acknowledged at the international level under the Basel Convention (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 15 December 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/06-12-15/story1.htm).

“Nigeria Fears E-Waste ‘Toxic Legacy’,” BBC News, 19 December 2006; “Nigeria to Impose Import Duties to Stem Influx of Junk PCs,” Agence France Presse, 7 February 2008; “Nigeria to Curb Imports of “Toxic” Old Computers,” Reuters, 7 February 2008.