As Customs clarifies positions

By Providence Adeyinka

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, has listed some of the operational challenges encountered in processing delivery of consignments from the nation’s ports.

Speaking at a stakeholder’s engagement meeting, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of ANLCA, Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, said that multiple alerts on cargoes causes delay in deliveries.

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He said that the Customs Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Strike Force and other intervention units of Customs act in ways that delay delivery of cargoes, among other issues.

Meanwhile, Mustapha advised that the Nigeria Custom Service, NCS, management should harmonize their activities, especially when in transit to warehouses, adding that all other alerts should be restricted and consolidated into Valuation and Query and Amendment.

He raised other issues in cargo processing and movements including, “Demand for regular quarterly meetings to assist in appraisals and tackling evolving challenges; PAAR should no longer be advisory but be improved to be final document for clearing purposes; Seme Border experiencing PAAR challenges in data-capturing; Benchmarking should be stopped as it does not

 make any cargo-related sense; Deployment of Scanners to ease cargo delivery efforts.

Responding on behalf of Customs Management, DCG EI Edorhe, said that the Customs Management is thinking of posting desk officers to facilitate quick resolution of such issues confronting members of ANLCA.

He stated: “Scanners deployed at the three seaports will soon be operational, as capacities are being built to handle them presently.

“Correcting the wrong impression of the public about its operations and personnel, Nigeria Customs Service has decided to automate and open up to the public its services, to transparently carry out its core mandates of facilitating trade and also protecting the economy from unwholesome, prohibited goods’ entry into the country.

“To clarify some of the areas of unnecessary conflicts between Customs, Agents and Importers, the Nigeria Customs has this explanation to make: The valuation of goods is another area that has often drawn criticism from certain quarters. Indeed, there is no market in the world where prices remain static over time. Same is true for other components of Customs Value, which includes insurance and freight charges.

“When we add the ever increasing rate of exchange into the mix, the inevitable result has to be commensurate increases in the value component of declared items used for calculating duty.

“It is pertinent to state that the historical records of all import transactions are valid data in our archives which can be used to justify any action taken by the Valuation unit of the service. These records are comprehensive and capture the essence of transactions from the point of view of exporters from different countries of origin.