Clearing agents raise alarm over arbitrary hike in Customs duty

Clearing agents under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has raised an alarm over the sudden increment in duty payable on the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) of the Nigeria Customs Services, warning that if the increment persists, agents might be forced to withdraw their services at the ports.

Addressing maritime Journalists, on Friday, in Lagos, Vice President of ANLCA, Dr Kayode Farinto stated that in the last 24hours, the customs have jerked up duty payable on PAAR for a 1by20ft container to one million Naira while also raising that of a 1by40ft container to two million Naira.

According to the ANLCA Vice President, “In the last 24hours, duty payable on PAAR which were not regimented or fixed before have now been pegged by the Customs at N1million for a 20ft container and N2m for a 40ft container.

“I wish to use this medium to urge the Nigerian trading public and importers not to succumb to this sudden increase in duty payable on PAAR by the NCS.

Information at our disposal has revealed that the Acting Controller in charge of the PAAR Ruling Centre has directed that the duty to be paid by cargo owners should now be basic. That a 20ft container should now be N1m while a 40ft container should be N2m as basic.

Before now, the content of a container determines duty payable on PAAR. But with this directive, irrespective of what you are carrying, you now pay N1million for a 20ft container and N2million for a 40ft container.

“This sudden increment in duty payable on PAAR is desperation by the Customs to meet up with its self-imposed revenue target.

This policy is going to affect our economy, particularly the final consumers of such goods because cargo owners will transfer such a hike in duty payable on PAAR to the end-users of such goods.

“We urge the Customs not to frustrate or arm-twist the few importers who, despite the odds faced at Nigerian ports, still bring cargoes here.

“The decision by Customs to arbitrarily jerk up duty payable on PAAR negates Act 20 of the general agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) 2003. Under GATT, which Nigerian already domesticated, there are six principles that must be followed sequentially if there is a query on any cargo.

“But a situation where Customs just wake up in the morning and impose arbitrary duty regimes on import cargoes won’t help the Nigerian economy in the long run.

“We as Customs brokers need to raise the alarm on this development because the Federal Ministry of Finance has a role to play in the whole issue.

“How best do we describe a situation, where Customs, while trying to meet up with a self-imposed revenue target or target set for them by the Federal Government, resort to arm-twisting of importers. This negates most of the trade conventions that Nigeria had entered into and domesticated.

“As I am talking to you right now, I have received calls and messages from our colleagues in the eastern ports that the Customs is slamming illegitimate and arbitrary duty regimes on cargoes.

“If you take a look at the PAAR Ruling Centre of the Customs closely, there are sub-divisions that deals with the issue of value and classification. Is it that the rules guiding the PAAR Ruling Centre are no longer being followed by the Customs anymore?

“This simply means that our Customs are not operating professionally as expected of them anymore.

“It is our duty to raise this alarm so that our importers and cargo owners are not being exploited. If this trend is not reversed, we might be left with no choice but to withdraw our services from the ports.”

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Clearing agents raise alarm over arbitrary hike in Customs duty

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