Customs
Terminal operators accuse Customs of reversing gains of port concession.
—– attribute sluggish port processes, high port costs to physical examination of cargo
—- Customs processes contribute 81.7 to costs of port operations
Eyewitness reporter
The Operators of terminals at the Nigerian ports have slammed the Nigeria Customs Service for reversing the great milestone recorded by the port concession programme of 2006.
The Chairman of the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria(STOAN) Princess Vicky Haastrup, who ventilated the feelings of the operators, said the Customs’ incurable passion for 100 percent physical examination of cargo has set back the progress which the ports have made after exiting the chaotic, disorderly and sluggish port services that characterised the pre- concession era.
Princess Haastrup was speaking as a lead speaker at the one-day town hall meeting organised in Lagos yesterday by the League of Maritime Editors to discuss ”Achieving Effective Digitalization Nigeria’s Maritime Industry.”
The STOAN Chairman, who was unsparing in her condemnation of the damage the customs’ archaic cargo clearance procedures have done to the well being of the port industry, said that despite the gains recorded since 2006 with the efforts and investments of the terminal operators and the Nigerian ports Authority ( NPA), the Customs operations have continually been a drag on the efficient service delivery at the Port.
“The efficiency of our ports has improved multiple folds.
“Vessel waiting time has since been eliminated resulting in significant savings for importers and exporters.
” Government now generates revenue in trillions of Naira – through the tax authorities, Customs, NPA and NIMASA – as against the few billions generated before the concession.
“The concession, without a doubt, has increased the competitiveness of our ports and enhanced movement of goods across international borders.
“I am also glad to inform you that all terminal operators in the six seaports across Nigeria today have effectively deployed technology to drive their operations.
“Consignees and their agents do not need to be at the port physically with regards to their transactions with terminal operators.
“The question that may readily come to your mind at this point will be: why then are there so many people visiting the ports daily in connection with their consignments?
“Why is the cost of doing business at the port still high? Well, my answer to this question is Customs processes.
“Despite the tremendous improvements recorded in cargo handling operations and the provision of marine services by NPA, consignees and their agents still face numerous man-made hurdles at the port because cargo clearing processes have remained manual.
“Customs’ cargo clearing systems in Nigeria, using the words of a former CEO of Nigerian Shippers’ Council Mr. Hassan Bello, have remained “archaic”.
Haastrup believed that this outdated mode of goods clearance by the Customs has not only become a breeding method for extortion and corruption, it has also significantly slowed down the process of cargo clearance at the port.
“From the point of 100% physical examination of cargoes, the discretionary powers of Customs officers kick in.
“Negotiations and underhand dealings inevitably happen due to unbridled human contact.
“A study conducted by Akintola Williams Deloitte in 2017 blamed the high cost of doing business at the nation’s seaports on the Nigeria Customs Service and other government agencies.
“The study stated that Customs processes are responsible for not less than 81.7 percent of the charges incurred by consignees.
” It said Shipping Companies are responsible for 13.8 percent of the port cost; Terminal Operators 1.4 percent; Transporters 1.4 percent and Clearing Agents 1.7 percent.” she quoted.
Princess Haastrup maintained that a major reason for the high cost associated with Customs is manual processes.
She however stated that the only solution to this problem is for the customs to embrace automation in its cargo clearance process by reducing the level of manual process to about 10 per cent and engaging in the use of digital technology such as scanners
“The solution to this major obstacle is to drive the clearing process from end-to-end with digital technology.
“The human interface and the discretionary powers of officers should be taken out of the mix.
Haastrup lamented that manual examination of cargo by Customs has assumed an endemic nature which if not checked will continue to denigrate the efforts of the government to attain proficiency in port Operations.
“Manual examination of cargoes has assumed the proportion of an endemic sore point in Nigeria’s Customs administration.
”The Nigeria Customs Service performs 100 percent physical examination on almost all cargoes passing through the ports.
“This is not efficient and it constitutes a huge drawback to port efficiency. The manual inspection by Customs contributes in no small measure to the high dwell time of cargoes at our ports.
” It is also the main reason why importers and agents troop to the port daily. This is in addition to breeding corruption through numerous human contacts.
Haastrup also faulted the present arrangement by the government to procure a “few” scanning machines for customs.
She believed that apart from the fact that the number of the scanners procured is not enough, they should not be entrusted with the customs to manage for fear of sabotage.
She rather advocated for the engagement of the private sector to acquire and manage these scanners for efficiency as was previously done under the scrapped destination Inspection scheme.
“The solution is for the Federal Government to engage the private sector, as was done under the previous Destination Inspection scheme, to acquire high-end scanners for use of the Nigeria Customs Service.
“It is not enough to merely acquire a couple of scanners as the government is doing at present.
” A sufficient number of high-end scanners should be acquired to put a definitive end to manual cargo examination.
“The effective usage and maintenance of the scanners are also critical. Left in the hands of government officials, the scanners may be grounded in no time – as it happened before – and the system will be reset to the manual era.
“The services of risk assessment/management companies should therefore be engaged and retained for the purposes of providing, effectively utilizing, and maintaining the scanners.
” If we are truly desirous of creating efficiency at our ports, the manual examination will have to be reduced to less than 10 percent of the cargoes handled at the port, in line with international best practices.
“Full automation of the clearing process and the deployment of a sufficient number of scanners at the port will invariably cut down the multiple checks of cargoes by Customs and other security agencies” the STOAN Chief noted.
Customs
Apapa Customs launches man hunt for fleeing importer, agent of seized Tramadol
–—hands over 20 cartons of illicit drug worth N1.4billion to NDLEA
The Eyewitness reporter
The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has launched a manhunt for the fleeing importer of 20 cartons of Tramadol intercepted at the Classic Bonded Terminal, Lagos in December 2022.
The importer, who brought in the illicit drug from India, is currently on the run with his agent who attempted to clear the illicit drug said to be three times deadlier than the conventional tramadol tablets.
The Area Controller of Apapa Customs, Comptroller AB Mohammed, while handling the 20 cartoons of the seized drug to Mr Udotong Noah Essien, the Commander of Nacortics of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA), Apapa Special Command, Wednesday at the Clarion Terminal, Lagos, disclosed that both the consignee and the agent could not be traced to their addresses which he said were fake.
”I am here today to hand over 20 cartons of illicit drug which belongs to the class of tramadol to the NDLEA Commander Essien for further investigation and prosecution of the suspects”
Comptroller Mohammed disclosed that the TIN number of the importer and the customs license of his agent have both been blocked but lamented that both of them gave fake addresses which make it difficult for them to be traced.
He however promised that the Customs, in collaboration with the NDLEA and other security agencies, will hunt down the fleeing suspects wherever they may be.
The Customs chief even said the suspects will be caught even if they fled the country with the aid of INTERPOL.
”We tried to trace them through their addresses but the addresses they gave were fake. We could not trace them to the addresses.
”They have been on the run and we are in search of them but sooner or later, we shall catch up with them and they will face the full wrath of the law.”
Comptroller Mohammed disclosed that the consignee concealed the drug in a jumbled mass of gummy pop sweets which he falsely declared as driving shaft and candy sweets.
He however promised to make Apapa port unconducive to the importation of illicit drugs and their traffickers, vowing to bring to bear the full weight of the law on the perpetrators.
While receiving the drugs on behalf of the Chairman of the NDLEA, Brigadier-General(rtd) Buba Marwa, Mr Udotong Noah Essien, the Commander of Nacortics of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA), Apapa Special Command, lauded the efforts of the Apapa Customs command for the successes so far recorded in the war against the importation of illicit drugs through the port corridor.
He applauded the collaboration between the two agencies which he said has yielded tremendous results in curtailing the importation of drugs into the country.
The NDLEA commander promised that the agency will hunt down the fleeing suspects with the collaboration of the Customs and other relevant security agencies, adding that the agency has spread its dragnet all around the country and that the suspects cannot escape.
The seized drug is said to be a deadlier new variant of Tramadol called Trapaking tablets which has a higher potency than normal Tramadol.
The interception and seizure made at the Classic marine bonded terminal, Ago Palace Way, Festac, Lagos, exposed the novel way the importers of these illicit drugs now use to bring in the prohibited item.
It was Imported from India and is three times deadlier than the normal tramadol.
The new drug variant was in 20 cartons of 225mg of 838,500 tablets and 90,000 of 120mg tablets.
The street value of the seized item was put at N1.400 billion with each cartoon worth about N70million.
The consignment came in from India but was intercepted through intelligence and collaborative efforts of Customs officers and other sister security agencies.
The Customs operatives trailed the illicit cargo since it came into the port on July 3rd, 2022 as the importer, who initially abandoned it, was buying time and delaying its declaration in order to throw off the officers from its trail.
Customs
How terminal operators sabotage cargo scanning operations at Tin Can port
—As Customs intends to get mobile scanners to achieve total compliance
The Eyewitness reporter
The Tin can Island command of the Nigeria Customs Service has accused the terminal operators of frustrating the cargo scanning process at the port.
The Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Olakunle Oloyede, made the veiled accusation last week during his presentation of the command”s performance for 2022.
Comptroller Oloyede alleged that the terminal operators are not willing to provide trucks that will take consignments scheduled for scanning to the scanning site, thus making it difficult for the command to achieve a 100 percent compliance level by importers and their agents.
”It is a big problem for the terminal operators to bring me trucks to take the consignments to the scanning site where the fixed scanners are located”, he lamented, saying ” but customs can”t do it alone, we have to do this work together with other stakeholders, there should be a synergy to get this job done as we all agreed to work together”
”Even, if I have 10 fixed scanners at the port and the terminal operators are not willing to provide trucks to move the consignments to the scanning site, that is a problem”, he stated.
But to circumvent this human obstacle to the scanning operations, Comptroller Oloyeded revealed that the command has decided to procure mobile scanners that will be placed on the quayside to scan containers dropped from the vessels before they are taken to the stacking areas.
”What we intend to do is to buy more mobile scanners and place them at the quayside.
”As your container is dropped on the truck that will take it to the stacking area, it would be made to go through the mobile scanner at the quayside. This will make compliance level compulsory.
”This is because the mobile machines will be at the quayside where they can be moved from one end of the quayside to the other.
”Even, if I have two mobile machines, they are enough for me. We just place them side by side on the vessel and your truck we move through them.
”And the scanning will not be more than five seconds per container. I can scan up to 400 containers a day, even more, without analysis.
”I will just scan for record purposes but when it is time when the owner of the cargo is ready for the clearance process, that is when the risk management tool will tell me which of those containers I have already scanned and kept their records are going for scanning. This is when we scan and analyse.
”This is what we intend to do very very soon”, the Customs chief declared.
On the issue of customs’ failure to apply value depreciation on old cars, Oloyede said that Customs does not have data for cars older than the approved age limit of 2014.
According to him, the system has been configured in such a way as not to recognise them, but rather than outrightly reject them, that is the reason they make them pay the value of the newer cars.
He observed that in other climes, such old cars are meant to be crushed and used as raw materials for other things but lamented that in Nigeria, people still bring in cars of 2005, 2007 into the country.
”There is no data for old vehicles. They are meant to be crushed. Our system is programmed to take cognisance of government policy on the age limit of cars. Any vehicles outside the approved age limit are not recognised..
He extricated Customs from the astronomical increase in the costs of vehicles in the market, attributing the high cost to the galloping exchange rates and the dynamism of the international market.
”When we talk of value for clearance, before, what was the exchange rate, and now, what is the exchange rate? This is what has affected the cost of cars in the market.
”And on value depreciation, you can’t depreciate vehicles that you are not supposed to bring into the country. But for vehicles within the age limit of 2014, the depreciation of value is there”
He also revealed that the system has been configured in such as way that there can’t be human intervention or interference.
Customs
Tin Can Customs nets N574.3 billion in 2022 —–records N242.365 billion in exports
Oloyede said the figure represented an increase of N80.90 billion or 16.39 percent when compared with N493.4 billion recorded in 2021.
“This feat can be attributed to the constant rejigging of the existing measures geared toward sustaining the command’s revenue profile.
“It is as well as utilisation of some disruptive strategic measures such as: periodic capacity building, reshuffling and redeployment of officers using the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis and implementation of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) valuation,” he said.
He noted that the command also ensured robust and continuous stakeholder engagements and collaborations with all sister government agencies and maritime associations.
“These led to timely intelligence sharing, utilisation and voluntary compliance to government’s extant laws by the trading public,” Oloyede said.
He added that the command increased surveillance on declarations made in order to sniff out improper declarations as well as offending items.
He pointed out that the system paid off with the command recording a total of 38 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.85 billion.
“These seizures comprise 763kgs of Colorado (Cannabis Sativa) weighing 345.1kg with a street market value of N714.6 million only as given by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), 5 x 40 containers of used motor tyre (5,060 pieces).
“Also among seized items are 1,150 bales of second-hand clothing, 1,190 cartons of 20 per carton of potassium bromate and baking powder, 11,392 cartons of 1,200 per carton Pharmacol injection chloroquine phosphate 322.5mg.5ml (IV and IM), 206,000 pieces of finished machetes.
“Also, 1,383 cartons of 50 rolls per carton of cigarettes, 650 cartons of 50 pieces per carton of new ladies shoes, 2,666 pieces in 36 pallets of new starter Ex-Premium Inverter Battery, 1,980 cartons of assorted non-alcoholic beverages and 1,048 cartons of Tilda basmati rice,” he said.
Oloyede listed others as 2,594 pieces of ammunition and 20 pieces of arms comprising of one pistol with 611090 (S/W) model JCP 40mm, one used Co2 air pistol with accessories cal 117(4.5m)BM, one marksman repeater pistol, six Mace pepper gun and 10 suspected arms of various types.
He said that the seizures when compared with the 2021 record of 27 seizures with a Debit Note of N607.27 only, show an increase of 11 seizures and N1.24 billion.
He said that the increase in the DPV rate could be associated with increased surveillance and intensified anti-smuggling drive, the high value of seized items and Naira depreciation that led to higher exchange rates on imported items.
“These prohibited items were seized and forfeited to the Federal Government in line with the provision of Sections 46 and 161 of the Customs & Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45 LFN 2004 and Absolute Prohibition List of CET 2022- 2026.
“The command pertinently acknowledges the prominent roles played by the Customs Intelligence Unit, Valuation Unit, Federal Operations Unit, CGC Strike Force as well as interventions of Sister Regulatory Agencies like the NDLEA, Standards Organisation of Nigeria SON, the Nigeria Police and others in ensuring these seizures and detentions were made.
“A total of 60 suspects were detained in 2022 and were granted administrative bail while the command has 8 cases pending in court,” he said.
Oloyede said the command recorded a significant increase in the Free On Board (FOB) of exports in the period under review to the tune of $589,696,648 (N242,365,322,333.00) as against the $496,075,796 (N141,985,109,159.00) recorded in 2021.
He attributed the increase of 34.4 percent in the FOB to the high quality and value of exported commodities.
“However, the export report shows a decrease in tonnage of export from 1,723,986.8 in 2021 to 336,179.5 in 2022.
“The decrease in tonnage could be connected to current government fiscal policy which prohibited the export of wood and wood products as well as the global unrest with its concomitant economic challenges,” he said
He listed the commodities exported through the command to include: cocoa beans, insecticides, dried ginger, empty bottles, soya beans, cashew nuts, cigarettes, rubbers, cocoa butter, frozen shrimps, copper ingots, aluminum ingots, sesame seeds and other manufactured items.
“Cocoa beans were the highest exported commodity while the legend stout was the least exported commodity.
“The future of export in the command looks brighter as the command in line with the headquarter circular on Export Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) released a Port Order on the Command’s harmonised SOP for the seamless facilitation of Export Trade in strict compliance with Extant Laws and guidelines on Export,” he said.
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