Duty waivers: Customs loses N6.7bn in 10 months

The Nigeria Customs Service, Apapa Area Command, has lost N6.7bn to duty waivers given to certain organisations between January and October 2010. The total dutiable value of the goods covered by the waivers was N71.8bn.

The Area Controller of the Command, Mr. Azarema Abdulkadir, said that the N6.7bn loss accounted for 4.6 per cent of the total revenue collected during the period under review.

Abdulkadir said in a statement made available to our correspondent in Lagos on Thursday, ”The Apapa Command lost N6.7bn on a dutiable value of N71.8bn due to duty exemptions, concessions and waivers granted to certain organisations. This accounts for about 4.6 per cent of the total revenue collected for the period under review.”

He said 64 containers, with duty paid value of N286.2m, were seized during the period under review, with the month of February recording the highest duty paid value of N106.5m on five containers. He added that the Command was committed to ensuring zero tolerance for smuggling activities.

He said, ”In line with the World Customs Organisation‘s requirements, the Nigeria Customs Service has fine-tuned and simplified its clearance procedure to enable it to achieve 48 hours cargo clearance time. The procedure has been further segmented into just two parts.

”One is the trader zone, where the importer/agent prepares his documents and makes declaration from his office or at a DTI café, and this reflects in the Custom‘s server. The importer assesses the declaration, goes to a designated bank to pay the duty, and goes back to trigger selectivity. After this, the declaration goes to the Customs zone.”

Source:.punchng