7% seaport surcharge threatens cargo clearance at Nigerian ports

7 per cent levy not ours —Customs CG • Cost of vehicles will rise —Motor dealers

IMPORTERS are threatening to abandon cargoes at the nation’s ports following the presence of a seven per cent surcharge levy on the B’Odogwu Declaration form being issued to importers by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), checks by the Nigerian Tribune reliably confirmed on Wednesday.

Recall that the Customs in July 2025 announced the re- placement of the one percent Comprehensive Import Super- vision Scheme (CISS) and the seven per cent cost of collection levied on importers with a single four per cent Free On Board (FOB) charge under a new revenue structure.

However, the continuous presence of a seven per cent surcharge on the Customs B’Odogwu Declaration form has stirred controversies among clearing agents and importers who are claiming the Customs deceived them by promising to remove the seven per cent levy alongside the one per cent CISS for the four per cent FOB.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, a cross section of agents representing different importers explained that the B’Odogwu Declara tion form which is used to make duty payment into Fed- eral Government coffers, still has seven per cent surcharge boldly stated on it. “Take a look at this B’Odogwu Declaration form issued on the 5th of August 2025. Under schedule 47 where you have Taxes and Duties, there are six different types of levies there and seven per cent surcharge is number four. “We have the four percent FCS which stands for the FOB charge followed by the Duty payment which is 20 percent, and then the NAU levy which is 15 percent before the sev- en per cent Surcharge which Customs told us they have re- moved.

“The last two levies on the B’Odogwu Declaration Form is ETL which is 0.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT).

“So, the presence of the seven per cent surcharge on the B’Odogwu Declaration form is the bone of contention here. The Customs CG told us in Lagos that the seven per cent will be removed, but it has not been removed,” the angry clearing agents told the Nigerian Tribune.

When contacted, the Comptroller-General of Cus- toms, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi urged clearing agents and im- porters not to confuse the re- moved seven per cent Cost of

collection with the seven per cent Port Surcharge being collected by the Service on behalf of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

In the words of the Customs CG, “It is not true that the seven per cent cost of collection has not been removed. It has been removed, but agents and importers may not know because it is a deduction that is done from the federation account, not from the duty paid by the importers. The seven per cent Cost of collection is deducted at the back end from duties collected. It has nothing to do with agents or importers. “So, it is important that importers and clearing agents don’t confuse the seven percent Port surcharge that they see on the B’Odogwu form with the seven per cent cost of collection that has been removed. The seven per cent port surcharge is charged and paid upfront by all port users.

It is collected on behalf of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) by Customs.

“The stakeholders in the now removed seven percent Cost of collection are the Federal Government, State Government and the Local Government because it is de- ducted from the federation account after all duties have been paid. Importers have no business with the seven per cent cost of collection or one per cent CISS.”

Also speaking on the confusion, a member of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) who wouldn’t want his name in print explained that the confusion stems from the fact that both the Port surcharge and the cost of collection are both seven per cent. “I understand the confusion seven per cent cost of collection is what is deducted from the federation account to run Customs after all duties have been paid into the coffers. It has nothing to do with duty payment. This is what has been stopped, not the seven per cent surcharge which is for port development and is col- lected by Customs for NPA.

Its very easy to mix up the two. The Customs CG ought not to have said such publicly since it has nothing to do with the importers. When the agents heard seven per cent to be removed, they quickly thought it’s the seven per cent surcharge that that they used to see on the Customs payment platform,” the OPS member stated.

Also speaking, the National President of the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON), Ajibola Adedoyin, explained that if the Customs CG was being misquoted by clearing agents as regards the seven per cent cost of collection, then what that implies is that only one percent was waived while three percent was added to the cargo clearance value chain.

“You said the Customs CG told you that agents are con fusing the seven per cent cost of collection with the seven per cent port surcharge. Well, if that is the case, then what happened is that Customs re- moved one per cent CISS and replaced it with four per cent FOB, meaning, one per cent was waived while three per- cent was added to the value chain.

“The seven per cent cost of collection issue is no longer valid since it has nothing to do with the importers or duty payment. But let’s focus on what affects the importers, which is the one per cent CISS that has been removed and the four percent FOB that has been added. Definitely, the cost of vehicles will go up because one per cent has been removed from the four percent added, leaving an increase of three percent,” the AMDON National President stated.

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