Exchange Rate Fluctuation Is Killing Trade, Ports Empty, Laments ANLCA President
NWOKEOJI
• Fears negative impact on customs revenue target for 2024
By Francis Ugwoke
President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chief Emenike Nwokeoji, has expressed deep concerns over continued fluctuations in foreign exchange rates used in calculating duties at the ports, saying it has impacted negatively on trade.
Nwokeoji said it is worrisome when the exchange rate used in calculating duties is higher than the rate importers paid at the time the goods were ordered.
The ANLCA President in an exclusive interview with SHIPPING DAY said exchange rate for calculating duties must be stable to allow planning.
He said that if this was the case, the abandoned car issue in the ports for which the Customs announced 90 Days reprieve for importers to pay duty on improperly imported vehicles would not have arisen.
Besides, he said that lack of stability on the exchange rate has hit importers badly to the extent that there is now very low traffic at the ports.
Describing the ports as now empty, Nwokeoji expressed doubt on how the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) will still be able to meet its revenue target for the year.
He told SHIPPING DAY that the stress placed on revenue generation in terms of giving targets to the Customs without considering cargo traffic was not the best.
Besides, he said government needs to consider the negative impact on the people over the revenue target.
Nwokeoji said,
“Customs is not a policy making agency, but simply border control officers and anti-smuggling. That is their statutory obligation.
“Like I said before, it is not everything that we must stress revenue, we must think about the people that are generating this revenue to better their lives. “Will they still be alive to enjoy anything . Giving customs target is Nigerian model. Right now, cargo traffic has dropped, how will they make it? Does customs import? And those who give this target do not base them on any statistics. Are they saying that there will be more imports this year for them to raise more money? The ports are empty everywhere, where do you see the money to import, people that import cannot sell because the buying power of the people is low”.
On his view on the 90 Days reprieve for importers to pay duty on improperly imported vehicles, Nwokeojia told SHIPPING DAY “For any man to import goods and leave it in the port, it means the man is sick or something happened.
“The port is a transit area, not a warehouse, so reminding a man whose millions are staying in the port that he has 90 days is not enough, he is aware, lets first of all know why the cargo is there, May be, it is a vehicle you have imported to use as a birthday gift to your wife, why should you leave it in the port?. The basic thing government should do is to look in on how to remove the levy on them. By the time these vehicles arrived their owners have looked at it and seen that by the time they pay the duty and levy, that it is better for them to go and buy a smaller vehicle in the market. That is why they abandoned them there. No sane man can import a vehicle… do you know the excitement of owning a new vehicle. You know you have a new one, it is somewhere and you can’t go and pick it up. The problem is the high rate of duty. It is not a question of giving him 90days, giving him 90 days, did you stop him before?, something stopped him. So, lets get to the root, why are they leaving these vehicles there? So the emphasis is let them reduce levy on some certain vehicles. Like I said the earlier, everything must not be about revenue. It is now we are complaining there is no food, but there is food in the country, trailer loads are carrying food from Nigeria to other countries. And you said there is no food. There is food, but the people have little purchasing power to buy these food in the market. Is there any time you go to the market and you cannot see the food items you want? But the problem is where is the money. So, what is necessary is to empower the people so that these prices will come down. That is why we are saying exchange rate for calculating duties must be stable to allow planning. With this, car issue will not arise. You import your vehicle, you use that particular rate to know how much duty will be. Not when you import vehicle at a particular time, before you know it, the exchange rate has jumped up”.
It would be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) weekend slashed the foreign exchange rate on cargo clearance from N1,572.507/$1 to N1448.386/$1.
The policy was as a result of the strengthening of the Naira against Dollars and other foreign currencies.
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