The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed 43 items from the list of goods prohibited from accessing forex in the official market.

The new list, which was released on October 12 includes items such as cosmetics, baby diapers, Rice, toothpastes, kitchen utensils etc.

The CBN said that the decision to remove the items from the list was taken in order to boost economic activity and encourage investment in the country. The bank also said that the removal of the items would help to reduce the cost of goods in Nigeria.

The following is a list of the 43 items that are no longer contraband for importation into Nigeria:

1 Rice
2 Cement
3 Margarine
4 Palm kernel
5 Palm oil products
6 Vegetable oils
7 Meat and processed meat products
8 Vegetables and processed vegetable products
9 Poultry and processed poultry products
10 Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/sardine
11 Cold rolled steel sheets
12 Galvanized steel sheets
13 Roofing sheets
14 Wheelbarrows
15 Head pans
16 Metal boxes and containers
17 Enamelware
18 Steel drums
19 Steel pipes
20 Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)
21 Iron rods
22 Reinforcing bars
23 Wire mesh
24 Steel nails
25 Security and razor fencing and poles
26 Wood particle boards and panels
27 Wood fiberboards and panels
28 Plywood boards and panels
29 Wooden doors
30 Toothpicks
31 Glass and glassware
32 Kitchen utensils
33 Tableware
34 Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
35 Gas cylinders
36 Woven fabrics
37 Clothes
38 Plastic and rubber products
39 Polypropylene granules
40 Cellophane wrappers and bags
41 Soap and cosmetics
42 Tomatoes/tomato pastes
43 Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases.

The CBN said that the list of prohibited items would be reviewed on a regular basis and that additional items may be removed from the list in the future.