A Black Heaven / Get it home / Nigeria

Can I bring it home from Nigeria?

The export rule at the Nigeria end and the import rule at the US end, by what the object is — because they are two different questions and an object can clear one and fail the other.

The statutes and notices cited on this page were last read on 3 September 2026. We re-check past 21 days.

Work by a living artist

No export permit neededNigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments Act reaches antiquities: archaeological material, relics of early Nigerian civilisation, work made before 1918, and objects of traditional art used in religious or ceremonial life. A new canvas by a living artist is none of those and leaves as ordinary goods. Take a dated invoice naming the artist, the year, the medium and the dimensions. Exporters routinely ask the Commission for a written no-objection anyway — it costs little and settles the argument at the airport rather than at the gate.

Ceremonial or ritual objects

Restricted on the way out and on the way inObjects of Nigerian traditional art or craft used in religious or ceremonial life count as antiquities under the Act whatever their age, so they need an export permit from the National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Nigeria is also the one origin on this site where the US side bites: since 17 March 2022 American import restrictions have covered Nigerian ethnological material, expressly including objects used in religious activity, at community or ancestral shrines, and in royal or chiefly life. Without documentation of lawful export you may not be able to bring it in at all.

Older and antique work

1918 is the export line; the US line goes back to 1770Anything made before 1918 is an antiquity under the Act and needs an export permit. The US restriction is drawn differently and separately: archaeological material of Nigeria dating from roughly 1500 BCE to 1770 CE. The two do not line up, and an object can clear one and fail the other. The bilateral agreement behind the US restriction was signed on 20 January 2022 — see the note above about agreements lapsing.

Craft, textiles and decorative objects

Fine to export if it is new, dutiable on entryNew craft, textile and decorative work by a living maker sits outside the antiquities regime and outside the ethnological restriction — the restriction is about ritual and chiefly use, not about material. But it also sits outside Chapter 97, so it is not duty-free entering the US and pays its material rate. Ask the timber species on anything carved, for the Lacey Act declaration.

Where the work is

This rule governs Lagos on this site.

The duty question

Since 24 July 2026 goods from Nigeria carry an additional 12.5% dutyA Section 301 action against 60 economies over forced-labour enforcement took effect on 24 July 2026, and Nigeria is in the 12.5% group. An original painting, print or sculpture escapes it under the informational-materials subheading 9903.05.92, which names artworks. Craft, textiles and decorative objects do not, and pay the 12.5% on top of their ordinary rate. Read 15 September 2026 — 91 FR 47318, CBP CSMS #69326983.

Whether you pay duty is a separate question from whether you may export, and it turns on a tariff classification rather than on the artist. What Chapter 97 covers, and what it does not.

Sources

Every statement above cites the regulation itself rather than a summary of it. All of them were read on 3 September 2026; a .gov page can be live and still be wrong, which is why the date is here.