The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, chaired by Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, approved the establishment of a national office for trade negotiations.

This is even as the VP approved a memorandum for the introduction of a new Yellow Card with advanced security features.

Speaking on the development with State House Correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, said that the office would coordinate trade negotiations by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) which were not properly done in the past.

“What we found was that this was happening in various ministries, departments and agencies with insufficient coordination and therefore, frequently, it had unintended consequences and costs for us.

“The cabinet decided that it is wise to establish a coordinating central office for trade negotiations, the Nigerian office for Trade Negotiations.

“It will be headed by a Chief Trade Negotiator of Ambassador rank that would then work with both the Economic Management Team and the cabinet.’’

The minister said that the office would assist in the coordination of the various trade discussions and negotiations.

On the new yellow card, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole said that the former card was prone to abuse through issuance by unauthorised persons to people not actually vaccinated.

He said: “With this new card you cannot fake the yellow card; using a card reader; we can also document your vaccination status to know whether or not you have been genuinely vaccinated.”

“As soon as we start the roll out, we will tell the Nigerian community the date of commencement; what to do with the one they have and when it will be phased out.’’