The Central Bank of Nigeria policy or directive on removing some imported goods from the list of items valid for Forex Exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market should not be misunderstood as Banning of the goods for importation by importers in Nigeria. It is important to note that these 42 import items or commodities are not banned or forbidden for importation by the Federal Government, Nigerian Custom Services and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
What the CBN policy means regarding the 42 import items banned for Forex Exchange is that, importers who import these goods can no longer buy foreign currencies from the official windows (CBN, Commercial banks) to pay their suppliers abroad. Rather, they will have to look for forex(dollars, pounds etc.) from the parallel market or Bureau De change to pay for their imported goods.

The list of the 42 import items includes;

1. Fertilizers
2. Rice
3. Cement
4. Margarine
5. Palm kernel /palm oil products/vegetable oils
6. Meat and processed meat products
7. Vegetables and processed meat products
8. Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey
9. Private airplanes/jets
10. Indian incense
11. Tinned fish in sauce (geisha)/(sardines)
12. Cold rolled steel sheets
13. Galvanized steel sheets
14. Roofing sheets
15. Wheelbarrows
16. Head pans
17. Metal boxes and containers
18. Enamelware
19. Steel drums
20. Steel pipes
21. Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)
22. Iron rods and reinforcing bard
23. Wire mesh
24. Steel nails
25. Security and razor wine
26. Wood particle boards and panels
27. Wood fiber boards and panels
28. Plywood boards and panels
29. Wooden doors
30. Furniture
31. Toothpicks
32. Glass and glassware
33. Kitchen utensils
34. Tableware
35. Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
36. Textiles
37. Woven fabrics
38. Cloths
39. Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers
40. Soap and cosmetics
41. Tomatoes/tomato pastes
42. Euro bond/foreign currency bond/share purchases