House Committee Orders Customs to Implement Ease of Doing Business at Ports
Hammed Ali, CG, Customs
*Alleges artificial bottlenecks by customs officials to exploit importers
By Our Reporter
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was Wednesday told to implement the federal government’s ease of doing business at the ports to enhance trade facilitation.
Members of the House of Representatives during a plenary session said this would enhance fast and efficient clearing of goods out of the ports.
Hon. Abbas Adigun who moved the motion pointed out a number of challenges being faced at the ports before goods are cleared, saying this ought not to be so if the ease doing business as introduced by the federal government is being observed by the Customs.
Following the motion, the House Committee on Customs was mandated to carry out an investigation on some of the issues involved in importing goods and clearing.
He said that despite the Executive Order on ease of doing business, a lot of delay has remained in the process of clearing goods at the ports.
He also lamented about the number of Customs units involved in cargo cleaning, adding that this affected the turn-around time at the ports.
He also added that the House was disturbed by allegations of artificial bottlenecks devised by customs officials to exploit importers, which has resulted in huge financial losses for importers and clearing agents.
The Customs was particularly asked to publish import duties and levies for all categories of goods online to aid importers in using their bill of lading to make payments for fast clearance of goods.
The federal government was also tasked on the take-off of National Single Window project to make the nation’s ports more efficient and effective.
Adigun pointed out that there has been loss of revenue to the country over the delay in clearing of goods at the ports, adding that this has affected many companies.
Adigun said, “The House is also concerned that the delay in clearing procedures has negatively impacted Nigeria’s economy as many companies have closed down, thereby contributing to the rise in prices of goods.
“The House is further concerned that when cargoes are eventually cleared after a long delay, the importers tend to adjust prices of the goods to reflect the additional expenses, thus creating a situation that is perpetually reducing the purchasing power of the masses.
“The House is also aware that the National Single Window project was introduced in Nigeria to integrate all agencies involved in the clearance of cargoes at the ports to ease and hasten inspection, calculation and payment of all import duties, levies and other charges at the nation’s ports”.
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