Senate orders Customs to shelve plans on import duty penalty
… Customs agents, shippers disagree over Customs policy on vehicle duty

 

THE Senate has directed the authorities of the Nigerian Customs & Excise to halt the plan to punish anyone who fails to pay the necessary duties on their vehicles within a month of bringing same into the country.
The resolution was sequel to a motion by the Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Bala Na’Allah, who described the new Customs policy as a “serious matter.”
His view was shared by the senator representing the Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, who argued that it was not possible to import vehicles into the country without the cooperation of the Customs.
The Senate therefore resolved that Customs should halt action on the policy until it (Customs) appears before the Senate Committee on Customs.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, noted that it was the responsibility of the Senate to ensure that the welfare of Nigerians is upheld.
It may be recalled that Customs had threatened to impound vehicles that do not have appropriate duty papers, and to prosecute owners of such vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the Shippers’ Association Lagos State have disagreed over the one-month grace period given by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) concerning payment of duty on vehicles. Both bodies expressed diverse views in separate interviews with newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos.
The National President of ANLCA, Mr Olayiwola Shittu, advised the Customs Service to make the deadline for duty payment on vehicles an open-ended operation, saying the policy would check smuggling.
The President, Shippers Association Lagos State, Mr Jonathan Nicol, described the Customs policy on vehicle duty as outdated and not in conformity with the current situation in world trade.
Shittu said that such a policy should be extended or be an open-ended operation so that the duty on some vehicles that passed through Customs and not properly cleared, would be paid.
The Customs agent said that if Customs continued, vehicles owners would be forced to pay duties on those vehicles that were not cleared but found their ways into the country. He said that the new policy by Customs would discourage smuggling activities along the border areas “Anybody who has a vehicle imported through the border should check with Customs, if correct duties were paid. “Some people go to Cotonou to buy vehicles and paid duties, while the smugglers take them through unapproved routes. “Anyone who finds himself in such a position will be embarrassed,” Shittu said.