Customs generates N790bn from importers at Apapa ports in 9 months

The Apapa command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Thursday, said it has generated a whooping N790billion from importers between January to September 2022.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, the Customs Area Controller, Apapa command, Compt. Yusuf Malanta said the command improved by 29.8 per cent from N609billion generated in the corresponding period of 2021.

According to him the command also intercepted contraband such as codeine, tramadol, and unprocessed wood worth N12.4billion in the year under review.

Yusuf said, “in the period under review, the command has collected revenue to the tune of N790.6billion. This showed an exponential improvement of N181.5 billion as against N609 billion naira collected in the corresponding months of the year 2021.

The 2022 collection represents 29.8 per cent increment. This remarkable achievement was made possible because of our officers’ tireless commitment to ensure that all revenue leakages are being mitigated, as well as, sustaining the level of compliance by the importers/stakeholders in the clearance value chain.”

Speaking on the anti-smuggling drive of the command, Yusuf said, “Anti-smuggling activities have been one of the command’s focal points, especially with the activities of some unrepentant traders who are always looking for avenues to undermine our system.

“The command has fortified its forensic manifest management to monitor and detect fraudulent transactions through audit trials to ensure that illicit trades are being tracked before the declarations are lodged.

“Furthermore, the enforcement unit has been reinforced through improved collaboration and sharing of credible intelligence with relevant government agencies to suppress smuggling activities to its barest minimum.

“For the period under review, the command recorded 145 seizures of various items with a duty paid value (DPV) of N12.4bn.”

The Customs boss, however, warned importers to be compliant, saying non-compliant traders will continue to face the full wrath of the law.

“These seized items include unregistered medicaments such as tramadol and codeine, processed, unprocessed wood, used clothing, ladies, men’s footwear, foreign parboiled rice, tomato paste, vegetable oil and other sundry items that fall under import, export prohibition list.

“Apapa Command is continuously ready to assist in facilitating legitimate trade and ensure that all forms of smuggling activities through a false declaration on import/export done in defiance to extant trade guidelines will be detected through our layers of control mechanism, however, I want to crave the indulgence of our esteemed stakeholders to join hands with the command and ensure that items that are on the import/export prohibition list are strictly adhered to, and urge them to embrace the emerging realities of customs examination through non-intrusive inspection (NII) regime.

“The non-intrusive inspection regime is geared towards an increasing volume of cargo inspection, protection of national security, saving cost/clearing time, storing reliable data and images for reference purposes, and reducing human contact in the examination of containerized cargo.”

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