Why Customs’ new policy should be suspended

SOME  recent goings-on at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have thrown up fresh controversy as to whether or not Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd), the Comptroller General, is leading the agency in the right or wrong direction. The renewed debate on the desirability or otherwise of his appointment is borne out of public reactions trailing the new policy measures introduced by the agency recently. These include the ban on importation of rice and used vehicles popularly known as Tokunbo through the land border as well as the proposed plan to collect duties on all vehicles in the country, including those in use for upwards of 10-15 years. The latest action of the Customs operatives which elicited wild public condemnation was the February 22 midnight invasion of Cairo market at Sango-Ota in Ogun State where several bags of rice were allegedly impound and carted away.

The men of the NCS, Ikeja Unit, the market women alleged, damaged padlocks and doors of over 60 shops located inside the Sango-Ota motor park and carted away 18,000 bags of rice and jerry cans of vegetable oil. In reaction to the development, some angry youths and rice sellers took to the streets and barricaded both sides of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway with used tyres and planks, causing disruption of traffic. The last is yet to be heard on the matter, as traders insist on getting compensation for the action of the men of the service.

As if that was not even enough, the following week, the men of the NCS took another dimension in chasing suspected smugglers of rice, who were which identified as having bought the bags of rice and conveyed them to buyers at their various shops in Sagamu. This led to the death of four innocent people. I don’t see any reason for men of the Customs Service to be looting shops at mid-night or chasing motors conveying bags of rice after they had successfully sailed through the border. Does the law permit this act of lawlessness? Why are the men of the NCS bent on wasting innocent souls? Can they not be challenged or called to order by their bosses to stop killing people and desist from chasing vehicles on the roads? After all, these goods passed through the borders. What are they doing at the borders if they cannot apprehend the illegal goods being brought into the country?

Controversy is also raging over the payment of duties on old vehicles imported into the country years ago. According to the NCS, owners of such vehicles have up to 30 days to pay custom duty on them or face prosecution. Though the Senate has intervened and ordered an immediate suspension of the policy pending the appearance of Ali before its committee on Customs and Excise, the NCS has vowed to go on with policy, setting April 12 as the deadline for compliance. The Senate, while rejecting the policy, described the NCS under Ali as incompetent, noting that “what the Nigeria Customs has done by this announcement is pure advertisement of incapacitation and incompetence.”

In defiance to the Senate’s resolution, the Customs has announced an adjustment of points of payment and 60 per cent rebate across board from 2015 downwards, to ease the process and encourage all motor dealers in possession of “uncustomed” vehicles to come forward and pay their duties. A statement by the NCS read in part: “The CGC calls on all persons in possession of such vehicle to take advantage of the grace period to pay appropriate duties on them as there will be an aggressive anti-smuggling operation to seize as well as prosecute owners of such smuggled vehicles after the deadline of Wednesday, April, 12 2017”.

The NCS’ reputation has been marred by numerous corruption and fraud scandals across the years. According to Transparency International’s 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, more than half of local households surveyed attested to paying bribes to NCS officers in 2009. To date, complex customs regulations and bureaucracy surrounding the import and export of goods have  nurtured an environment in which bribes are commonly paid. Several companies are also believed to undervalue their goods upon importation to avoid penalties. Yet, other companies, operating in the informal economy, resort to smuggling as a means of avoiding legal trade.

Interestingly, Customs’ functions have widened, ranging from tackling issues of commercial frauds like under invoicing, double invoicing, over invoicing which ranks as the most prominent method, intellectual property rights infraction, daily heightening terrorism, trade in illicit and dangerous drugs, passengers safety, environment and toxic substance, cross border, economic crime, weapons of mass destruction, threat to public health, intelligence sharing and networking to toxic substance. These additional functions have also emerged as priorities. No part of Customs’ functions legalises breaking of shops at  mid-night or chasing vehicles conveying bags of rice, already at the various markets.

While the controversial recent pronouncement banning land importation of vehicles is still generating waves and heats, Ali’s Customs has come out again to force dealers and owners of vehicles to pay backdated official duty on all vehicles in their possession between March 13 and April 12, or risk seizure of same. The order by Ali means that he does not have respect for constituted authority, namely the Senate. Towards the end of 2016, the Federal Government, through the Customs, outlawed bringing in of vehicles into the country through land borders. This singular policy makes all vehicles documentation through or at the land border null and void. Therefore, the various Customs commands at the border points dismantled their Vehicle Evaluation Seats and started clamping down on importation of vehicles through the land borders. However, like rice, vehicles are still coming into the country. The results of Customs’ patrol inspection revealed that many vehicles are still being brought into the country.

• Orunbon writes in from Lagos