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Customs

 Freight expert tasks customs on eliminating human contacts in its operations to curb corruption

Dr. Segun Musa

—commends CGC Adeniyi for improved customs operations 

Funso OLOJO 
Dr. Segun Musa, the Deputy National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders(NAGAFF), has urged the management of the Nigeria Customs Service to eliminate human contacts in its operations to minimize corruption in the cargo delivery system at the ports.
Musa, who was a guest at the roundtable conference organized by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria(MARAN), claimed that 50 percent of Nigeria’s corruption emanates from the ports.
The NAGAFF chieftain believed that if the customs adopts full automation of its operations, it will not only facilitate legitimate trade but reduces corruption in the clearance system to a minimum.
The freight forwarder cum politician who once contested for the governorship election in Lagos State, however, commended the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, for his transformational leadership which he confessed has greatly improved the operations of the agency.
” There is an improvement in the operations of the customs under the present leadership of Wale Adeniyi but there is still room for more improvement” he declared.
He believed the agency has greatly improved in the area of technology.
” Before now, when Customs officers wanted to access their system, they used their passwords.
” But now, they do that through their thumbprints
” This will make it difficult for any other person to gain access to their system or steal their passwords, even passwords alone cannot gain access to the system except through their thumbprints” he noted.
The NAGAFF chief however appealed to the customs management to grant clearing agents similar privilege that will allow them to use their thumbprints to enter their entries into their system.
He said he made this call to reduce the high incidence of sending innocent customs brokers to jail for offences they did not commit.
“A lot of agents have gone to jail for offences they did not commit but which somebody who fraudulently used their licenses to perpetrate the illicit acts.
“If we are made to be using our thumbprints to access customs portal to lodge our entries just like customs officers do access their NICSII platform, fraudulent people will not be able to use our license to do illegal business” he noted.
He urged the customs authority to fully automate its operations unlike what he described as semi-automation that presently obtains.
According to him, with full automation, there would be no need for agents to physically interact with officers as it is presently done.
” Customs operations should be fully automated to eliminate human contacts.
“We, as customs agents, do not want to interface with customs officers again.
” Yes, Customs say we are corrupt. We have accepted that we are corrupt.
“But we do not want to be corrupt again.
” We want to be as saint as the customs officers so we do not want to interface with them again.
“Let us be relating with them virtually, online” Musa insisted.
To further eliminate corruption and human contacts with customs officers, the freight forwarder cum politician wanted the customs to assign codes to their documents so that officers processing such documents will not have access to the owners.
” Also, the name of the company must not be on the license. It should be a code.
” Let every company have a code. This will make it impossible for the officer treating a particular job to interface with the owner.
” Let’s make it difficult for such an officer to identify the owner of the document”
” This will eliminate interaction and familiarity between the customs officers and owners of the license which often leads to compromise and extortion.
He claimed that through such an unholy alliance between the customs officers and importers, clearing agents have often lost the services of their clients who abandoned them after such interactions with the officers.
The NAGAFF chief also advised the customs management to always give a timeline for a document to spend with an officer.
” When the entry gets to the table of an officer, it must be timed and be given a timeline which an entry must spend with the officer with the caveat that if he doesn’t process the document or query it, as the case may be, say in five minutes, such an officer will be queried. This is how to facilitate trade.
” As an importer or clearing agent, I don’t need to go to the customs or terminal operators or shipping companies to get my job out”
” Gone were the days. The world has moved beyond that stage and we cannot continue to be living in the past.
” Our counterparts in other African countries have gone far ahead of Nigeria in terms of trade facilitation.
” We do not want to know customs officers and they too should not know us as freight forwarders to do our job.
” My job must not be treated because I know the CGC or the CAC. My document must be treated on merit, with no preferential treatment.
” Let everyone be treated equally, after all, we the agents charge our clients agency fees” he asserted.
Musa said that the only way legitimate trade could be facilitated is when the customs, shipping companies and terminal operators fully automate their operations and reduce human contact.
” If corruption in the ports, which accounts for about 50 percent of corruption in the country, is reduced to a bearest minimum, the prices of goods in the market will be cheaper.
” People have often claimed that the cost of doing business at the  Nigerian Ports is very expensive. Why is this so?
” Because we are still operating an analogy system in a highly automated world.
” By the time we migrate into full automated system, prices of commodities in the markets will be cheaper .”
” This is because I don’t have to bribe customs officers to treat my document, I don’t have to pay higher storage or demurrage charges to exit my goods from the port.
” My shipment will not get to its expiry date before I get it out. That is what we call trade facilitation”
” If the customs officer queries your job, get about 6 months bond and argue the matter.
” If the customs has a superior argument for the query, you as the importer or his agent will pay the DN and the accumulated charges.
” But if you, as an agent, have a superior argument and win the case and they did not allow you to provide a bond and your shipment gets stuck at the port, accumulating demurrage, the officer who issued the query should be queried and made to pay any accumulated charges, including paying the inconveniences of the agent.
” This will serve as a deterrent to other officers who deliberately delay the processing of documents to frustrate agents who are forced to compromise” the NAGAFF chieftain observed.
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Customs

Customs grants one- month extended window to illegally imported private aircraft owners to regularise their documents to avoid sanction 

Funso OLOJO
The Nigeria Customs Service has given a month extension for owners of illegally imported aircraft to come forward to pay necessary charges and regularise their documents.
The grace period, which is from Monday, October 14th, 2024 to Thursday, November 14th, 2024, is to enable the affected owners to complete the verification exercise for the recovery of import duties which they had earlier evaded.
According to the statement by the Service, “the extension is to further engage operators who have expressed willingness to regularize their import duties, providing them with an additional window to comply with the necessary regulations.
 “The NCS is committed to ensuring that all illegally imported aircraft meet the legal requirements, thereby promoting transparency and accountability in the aviation sector.
“In light of this extension, the NCS encourages aircraft operators to take full advantage of the extended period to fulfill their obligations, avoiding sanctions that may arise from non-compliance after the deadline.
 “The Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi  reiterates the Service’s dedication to enforcing the laws governing import duties and maintaining the integrity of Nigeria’s aviation sector.
 “He further appreciates the cooperation and understanding of stakeholders in this ongoing exercise” the statement concluded.
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Customs

AfCFTA scribe commends Nigeria Customs over deployment of trade facilitation tools for efficient service delivery

— engages CGC Adeniyi on how to dismantle bottlenecks in intra-African trade.
Funso OLOJO 
The Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene had commended the Nigeria Customs Service on the deployment of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme, the Advanced Rulings, and the conduct of Time Release studies which he said have greatly improved trade facilitation at the Nigerian ports and border posts.
According to him, these initiatives have positioned the NCS as a benchmark for customs administrations across Africa.
Wamkele Mene gave this commendation while meeting the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi on the sideline of the Biashara Afrika 2024 forum, hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, from 9th to 11th October 2024.
The Rwanda engagement brought together key stakeholders to discuss ways to enhance intra-African trade and foster deeper economic integration.
The meeting between the CGC and the Secretary-General provided a unique opportunity to refine strategies aimed at improving trade facilitation under the AfCFTA agreement.
 Discussions centered on addressing existing bottlenecks and encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the agreement, given their critical role in boosting intra-African trade.
 Particular emphasis was placed on the role of Customs in these efforts.
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 In his response, Comptroller-General Adeniyi commended the Secretary-General for his unwavering commitment to advancing the AfCFTA’s goals, despite the resource constraints faced by the Secretariat.
 He also acknowledged the critical support provided by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration and the legislative arm through the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
 “The Act has been instrumental in providing the necessary legal framework for implementing initiatives that align with the government’s vision of making Nigeria the most efficient trading nation on the continent, fostering SME growth, and boosting exports to strengthen intra-African trade,” he said.

The high point of the conversation was the recent achievement of Mrs Chinwe Ezenwa, CEO of LE LOOK Nigeria Limited, who became the first woman to export goods under the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) of the AfCFTA to East, Central, and North African countries.

 Her success, marked by the export of goods on 16th July 2024 from Apapa Port in Lagos, underscores the growing opportunities for Nigerian businesses in the continental market.

A key outcome of the meeting was the AfCFTA Secretariat’s commitment to develop a concept note outlining the way forward for the free trade area.

 In turn, the NCS pledged to bring these discussions to the Heads of Customs Administrations platform in Africa, ensuring a coordinated approach to addressing customs-related challenges across the continent.

The Biashara Afrika, now in its second edition, has established itself as a formidable platform for engagement between African public and private actors on the effective implementation of the AfCFTA.

 This year’s forum focused on addressing the evolving challenges in the business environment and seeking innovative solutions to facilitate cross-border trade.

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Customs

Stakeholders accuse Finance Ministry of frustrating government’s six-month duty waiver on food imports

–as December deadline beckons, hungry Nigerians eagerly await dividends of  presidential initiative
Funso OLOJO
Nigerian importers and their agents have accused the Federal Ministry of Finance of deliberate efforts to frustrate the government’s initiative at encouraging massive importation of food items to cushion the country’s current food crisis.
Following the acute shortage of food items due to debilitating insecurity, which has driven the cost of foodstuffs through the roof, the federal government announced a six-month window of zero duty and VAT on the importation of some critical foodstuffs to provide an immediate solution to the widening gap in the food supply.
Consequently, the government announced, through the Federal Ministry of Finance, an executive order that effective from 15th July 2024 to  31st December 2024, there is a six-month window of duty waivers on the importation of some selected food items such as husked brown rice, beans, wheat, millet, maize and grain sorghum.
However, three months into the special offer, no single importation of the selected food items has been made.
Kayode Farinto, the Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Wealthy Honey Nigeria Limited pointedly accused the Finance ministry of putting a wedge in the implementation of the policy.
Farinto, a former Acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents(ANLCA), said the stringent conditions attached to importation under the special Presidential duty waivers were the killjoy that has scared importers away from participating in the programme.
He expressed dismay on why the ministry should place such a burden on the importers who wish to help the government achieve food sufficiency in the country if not to deliberately frustrate and sabotage the process.
” Government in its magnanimity realised that Nigerians are hungry and should have food in excess, rolled out that very good executive decision on duty waivers on some selected food items.
” But its implementation has been bastardised and I predicted when the announcement on this special arrangement was made that after three months of the executive order, there won’t be any importation of these food items under this programme.
” Three months into the programme, there is no importation.
” Go to the port terminals, you won’t find a single containerised food item under the duty waivers programme.
” Nobody is willing to import under such stringent conditions by the Ministry of Finance. The ministry has put a wedge in the smooth implementation of the policy.
” Most of us travelled abroad and saw these food items which we would have containerised and shipped to Nigeria under this programme but we couldn’t because of the stringent criteria set up by the ministry.
” How do you expect people to import food items and have a food surplus in the country when you put these tough conditions?” Farinto queried.
It could be recalled that the Ministry of Finance through the Nigeria Customs Service in August 2024  spelt out certain conditions to be met by importers willing to participate in the special Presidential duty waivers programme.
“To participate in the zero-duty importation of basic food items, a company must be incorporated in Nigeria and have been operational for at least five years.
“It must have filed annual returns and financial statements and paid taxes and statutory payroll obligations for the past five years.
” Companies importing husked brown rice, grain sorghum, or millet need to own a milling plant with a capacity of at least 100 tons per day, operated for at least four years and have enough farmland for cultivation.
“Those importing maize, wheat, or beans must be agricultural companies with sufficient farmland or feed mills/agro-processing companies with an out-grower network for cultivation”
Farinto said these conditions were not necessary as they would certainly be too cumbersome to meet.
” It should have been left open for those who have interest and capital to participate, a sort of all-comers affair to encourage massive importation of foods to saturate the market and bring the prices down.
“After all, the window is only for six months and after that, you close the window” the ANLCA chieftain declared.
Our reporter further gathered that apart from the stringent conditions attached to the zero duty programme which stakeholders believed have resulted in apathy, the Nigeria Customs Service, three months into the implementation of the duty waivers, said it was still waiting for the Federal Ministry of Finance to provide the agency with the list of importers eligible to participate in the programme.
According to the guidelines, the Federal Ministry of Finance is supposed to provide the Customs with the list of importers qualified to benefit from the duty waiver.
With three months remaining before the duty waiver window is shut, hungry Nigerians are still waiting to benefit from the massive importation of food items expected from the special Presidential duty waiver programme.
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