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Tag: NCS

  • Operators score PAAR high

    Operators score PAAR high

    The Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) introduced about four months ago by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is fast-tracking goods clearance at the ports, operators have said.

    PAAR processes, according to them, are in tandem with international best practice, enhancing trade, economic competitiveness, revenue collection and border security.

    They, however, decried delays at the ports after they have completed PAAR processes.

    The National President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, said PAAR, unlike the Risk Assessment Report (RAR), has made cargo clearance easy.

    He said the intelligence report by Customs Investigation Unit (CIU), System Audit, the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), shipping firms and other stakeholders was being studied by Customs to identify high risk shipments.

    The ANLCA chief noted that PAAR provides a timely multi-dimensional risk analysis at every stage of Customs processes and is a critical to clearance procedure.

    The delay associated with the release of cargo, despite the introduction of PAAR, the ANLCA chief said, should be blamed on some importers who, he claimed, make wrong entries, and some Customs officers, who are determined to corrupt the system.

    But the Intelligence Component of PAAR, Shittu said, is facilitating the management of data across multiple agencies as part of the Integrated Risk Management Approach by Customs and other security agencies.

    Shittu, however, pointed out that some of the hiccups in PAAR are the non-availability of bench-mark by Customs and the failure of some importers to declare their goods correctly.

    “The issue of bench-mark is very essential so that importers will know the amount they are going to pay for a particular container they are importing and PAAR would be more successful,” he said.

    The Chairman, Shipping Investment Limited, Mr Gbeleyi Ojodu, said PAAR provides the support-base for Valuation Risk Assessment in compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Customs Valuation.

    Commodities sensitive from valuation angle, Ojodu said, are identified and reviewed as vital for accurate assessment of duties, prevent capital flight and capture correct trade data required by importers.

    He said some of the advantages of PAAR include digitalisation of import documentation; expert tariff classification tool; assessment of Customs; import export commodity database; detail intelligent risk configuration encompassing; issuance of PAAR; SMS alert integration service; confirmation of transaction value by the supplier; flagging up of high risk commodities; fast-tracking of trusted traders and third Party pricing data, among others.

    But an importer, Mr Deji Pitan said PAAR has not translated to quick clearance of goods from the ports.

    Some Customs officer, Pitan said, still query PAAR after it had been issued and subject containers to physical examination, thereby delaying cargo clearance.

    The officers, he alleged, subject their cargoes to physical examination to extort importers and their clearing agents.

    But Customs National Public Relations Officer Wale Adeniyi said PAAR provides a standard format for classifying goods. The Common External Tariff Concordance, he said, had been linked to the Customs PAAR for easy navigation and accurate classification.

    “When an importer made a wrong classification, there is no way he would not have problem in getting his goods out of the port.

    “The Concordance contains a list of HS code and serves as an integrated search engine in order to facilitate accurate classification of goods.

    “The user are guided by the system on how to classify his product as well as other relevant information like whether the item is prohibited or not. It is not enough to say you are importing spoon or radio. You must be able to state the type and the place of origin,” Adeniyi said.

    He said the Comptroller-General of Customs has directed NCS’officers to address all traders in their local languages for proper understanding of PAAR.

    As part of plans to make stakeholders key into the scheme, Adeniyi said Help Desks and dedicated communication hotlines were provided to enable stakeholders and the public to channel complaints, observations and suggestions on the process.

    The image maker said the Help Desks are provided at the Customs Headquarters, Abuja and other Commands across the Country.

    He said such feedbacks can also be channelled through some dedicated numbers, including 09 4621597, 09 4621598 and 09 4621599.

    Customs Deputy Comptroller, ICT Operations, Mr Bashar Yusuf also said that traders would have their cargoes released immediately from the port with the genuine documents processed through PAAR.

    “The cargoes would be cleared before arrival, once other government agencies operating at the port confirmed the documents through PAAR,’’ he said.

  • Customs seizes N1.8m Indian hemp

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun State Command, has seized 553.5 kilogrammes of Indian hemp valued at N1.8 million, at the Imeko Command.

    Speaking while handing over the items to the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Area Comptroller, Haruna Mamudu, said the patrol team covering Imeko made the seizure. He said no arrest was made.

    The breakdown showed that 15 sacks of Indian Hemp were seized on December 30, last year, while 98 sacks were seized on January 3, this year.

    The Comptroller, who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller in-charge of Imeko order station, Dappa Williams, handed over the items to the representatives of the NDLEA, led by Abduallahi Sardauna.

  • Dikko arrests two Customs officers in Lagos

    The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi yesterday arrested two of his senior officers at the Lagos ports.

    According to sources, the officers were allegedly arrested at Tin-Can Island port for delaying cargo clearance and ‘extorting’importers and their clearing agents.

    The alleged arrested officers are the Head of the terminal, Mrs Jane Soboiki and Chief Superintendent of Customs, Ejesi.

    The activities of the officers, the source said, were against the trade facilitation programme of the Federal Government hence, the order from Dikko that they should be detained at the Customs Enforcement Unit at the port and be queried.

    Dikko, the source said, paid an unscheduled visit to the port following a tip-off by the Association of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) that some of his officers at the Tin Can port were frustrating the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) recently introduced by the Federal Government and unnecessarily delaying cargo release from the port.

    Customs Public Relations Officer, Mr Chris Osunkwo confirmed that the officers were queried for ‘un-procedural activities’ at the port by the CG.

    “The officers were accused of un-procedural activities at the port and issues relating to non-trade facilitation programme of the government. The officers were taken to Enforcement Unit and they were still there as at the time I left office. The officers are the Head of the Terminal Mrs Soboiki and Chief Superintendent of Customs, Ejesi,” Osunkwo said.

  • Monitoring team generates N110m

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Headquarters Monitoring Team, Idiroko axis, between December 5 last year and February 8, this year, seized contraband goods worth N110,660,500.

    The illegal goods intercepted under Assistant Comptroller Yahaya Biri Usman  included 9,513 bags of 50kg rice with a value of N47,565,000 and duty of N53,321,500, with DPV of N99,886,500.

    Other items are 4,938 cartons of frozen poultry products; 3,997 cartons of fake pharmaceutical drugs and multivitamin; vehicles, bales of textiles materials, large quantity of used tyres and vegetable oil.

    The Controller of the unit, Nuhu Isa Mahmoud, in a chat with reporters spoke well about the commitment of the team and advised its members to remain resilient in the war against smuggling.

  • LCCI blames Customs for delay in goods clearance

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has attributed the delay in goods clearing at the ports to the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

    The chamber said the delay was adding to the cost of doing business.

    Its President, Mr Remi Bello said the delay was a major cause for concern for importers.

    He urged the Customs, shipping firms and terminal operators to waive the accumulated demurrage for those concerned because the delays “were not caused by importers and it would be unfair if they are compelled to pay for what is not their fault”.

    “Persistent delays in the clearance of cargo at the Lagos ports have become a major cause for concern for the business community. One of the major shortcomings of the investment environment in Nigeria is the speed of cargo clearance at the ports; the 48-hour target set by the government is far from being achieved,” Bello said.

    He listed the implications of the current situation to include high demurrage charges and disruption of production schedules, as raw materials were not delivered in good time to factories.

    Others are high risk of corruption at the ports; risk of exacerbation of inflation; and high cost of borrowed funds by importers.

    Others, according to him, are frequent breakdown of the server of the Nigeria Customs Service, delays in cargo release from shipping lines, and tight deadlines for cargo examination booking.

  • Customs seizes N36.2m worth of goods

    Customs seizes N36.2m worth of goods

    The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has impounded a total of two hundred and 74 bales of second hand clothing and 24 bales of lace materials with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N36, 243,000.00.

    Giving a breakdown of the seizures, the Area Controller of the zone, Victor David Dimka said 253 bales of the second hand clothing were concealed with 45 cartons of Honey Well Noodle in a Mack truck with registration number BDG 809 XD worth about N26, 932, 000. 00 on the Ituku –Ozzala Enugu/Aba Road, 24 bales of lace materials and six jumbo bales of second hand clothing worth about N5,806,000.00 were deceitfully hidden in a J5 bus with registration number XA 606 KAF.

    Dimka who disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri, while displaying the seized contraband, said the Zone also made a seizure of 15 jumbo bales of second hand clothing packed in a Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number AKL 595 XA on the Onitsha –Adani Nsukka Road with a DPV of N2, 530, 000.00, adding that all the seizures were made within three days.

    He said two suspects who were arrested in connection with the incident are now helping NCS officials in their investigation and would soon be charged to court.

    Dimka who reiterated the determination of his men to tackle the scourge of smuggling in the country, assured that the NCS are now better transformed and equipped to achieve its constitutional objective.

    Apart from the suspects already in custody, Dimka said efforts are in top gear to apprehend those behind them.

  • Port, Customs officials clash at Onne Ports

    •Two in hospital •FLT shut down.

    •Two stabbed

    The Federal Light Terminal (FLT) at the Onne Ports was shut yesterday after a clash between officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and men of the Nigeria Custom Services (NCS).

    Two NPA officials were allegedly stabbed by Customs officers at the melee.

    AN eyewitness said they were being at an undisclosed private hospital within the area.

    The source said the Customs officer, who was in mufti, came to the NPA gates, where security officials requested that he identified himself, but he kept saying he was a Customs officer.

    “It is the policy of the NPA that visitors must submit their identity cards at the gate, but this Customs officer refused to identify himself.

    “While the argument was going on, the Customs officer called his colleagues, who came and pounced on the security officials.

    “The NPA staff union also mobilised and faced the Customs officials. This is not the first time the two groups will fight, it is a routine.

    “Two of the NPA workers were stabbed by men of the Customs services, in the head, elbow, while another was stabbed in the cheek.

    “Presently, the Federal Light Terminal (FLT), has been shut down, NPA workers have closed work, they insisted they will not go back to work. This is always the case.”

    Efforts to reach any of the parties proved abortive.

     

     

  • Customs, Immigration for joint border patrol

    Customs, Immigration for joint border patrol

    The Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) David Paradang yesterday made known that the organisation and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) are planning to start a joint border patrol unit.

    According to him, by the Customs to mark this year’s International Customs Day in Abuja, both agencies have been veritable partners in past decades to advance the economy and border integrity of the country.

    “Wherever you see the Customs, you also see the Nigerian Immigration Service in trade facilitation. Our cooperation dates back to decades and there have never been an incident of misunderstanding between us. It is on this note that we will soon start a joint border patrol operation,” he said.

    The theme of the event was: Communication, sharing for better cooperation. NCS, however, also launched an in-house magazine Naija Customs.

    Guest speaker, Dr Manassah Jatau, a retired Comptroller-General of Customs said it was crucial for the service to “communicate effectively for the benefit of the actors in the trade supply chain”.

    He urged the service to develop a communication strategy imbued with top of the notch feedback mechanism for future improvement and better performance.

  • And now, waiver-gate!

    And now, waiver-gate!

    Last week’s disclosure by the Nigerian Customs Service, (NCS) of the quantum of import duty waivers granted under the Jonathan presidency must have come as a ‘relief’ to the House Committee on Finance currently locked in a duel with Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Relief because, the service may have helped frame, in no small measure, the underlying issues so terribly muddled up in the 50-odd questions which the committee had sought answers in writing from the minister last December.

    More certainly, the customs expose has for good measure laid bare the duplicity and lies that has been the hallmark of this presidency.

    By way of preliminary comment, I don’t think that there can be any running away from the fact the House Comitteee on Finance did little credit to its image as a serious body with those awkward, unwieldy questions handed over to the minister. I honestly believe that a sizeable number of the 50 questions were at best sophomoric –clearly lacking in rigour of articulation as one would expect from a committee charged with oversight on public finance. The question of why the lawmakers would bundle the disparate questions which tended to betray astounding lack of knowledge in areas over which they had sought to take on the executive is best left to the members to answer. Suffice to state that the committee actually came off the entire episode as one on a mission to pick a fight with the irascible minister at all costs and for undisclosed reasons.

    Having said that, it is a different matter to suggest that the generous excoriation by the minister could be justified in the circumstance. I refer here to the minister’s characterisation of the lawmakers as being uninformed; her query on whether the House committee had “a coherent policy agenda for our nation’s development”, and her subsequent wonder “whether these questions are simply meant to stir confusion and detract us from the Transformation Agenda of the current administration.”

    Nigerians obviously know better than to dwell on the minister’s outsized ego. After all, what is a super-minister without the self-serving advisory to the lawmakers that “such protracted exchanges are a distraction to the executive and ultimately a disservice to Nigerians” and tutorial that “We would recommend more measured and civil exchanges in the future, which are informative for Nigerians and also enable the executive to focus on its goal of implementing programmes and projects across our nation?”

    The point is, Nigerians have far more to worry about the activities of officials who say one thing and do exactly the opposite; grandmasters of the dubious agenda of promoting private as public interest; arch-stewards of laissez faire governance.

    As I said in the opening statement, the issue today is last week’s confirmation by the NCS, of the existence of N1.4 trillion import duty waivers racket involving the finance ministry. Of course, when the news was first broken by an online medium few weeks ago, the ministry had dismissed the report as the handiwork of its detractors – the cult who do not see anything good in the activities of the Jonathan administration.

    Now, we know better. The NCS whose responsibility it is to administer the waivers has finally spoken: as against the minister’s claim of N170.7 billion, there is actually a racket, all of them executed in the last three years under this presidency. The breakdown comes to a princely N480 billion apiece in 2011 and 2012 and N474 billion in 2013. And as the NCS has further clarified, more than 65 percent of the beneficiaries actually received waiver grants for goods not approved under the applicable guidelines. You ask how? All that the ‘political importers’ needed to do was wave the so-called Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate, NDCC to the men of the customs at the point of payment for import and excise duties to qualify for the bazaar!

    And now this: a new memo signed by the Minister of State of Finance, Yerima Ngama dated December 11, 2013, has since expanded the scope of the NDCC to cover “other goods,”. “Other goods? You guesed right: Bullet-proof automobiles a la Oduahgate; rice, fish etc. Never mind that the customs think that the ‘other goods’ are those that can hardly contribute to the growth of the economy. It’s a lucractive the bazzar for all concerned – minus Nigerians, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries.

    Seriously, I don’t think anyone should be surprised at the revelation which first came to light last year when the leadership of the customs appeared before the Senate. By the way, it should not surprise if a hurriedly assembled reconciliation team is put together to ‘retire’ the difference between the figures. After all, the administration already has set a precedent in creative accounting over the missing $10.8 billion, now retired and passed off by the NNPC and the federal government, as “expenses”.

    Of greater interest to yours truly is that the minister and the customs cannot be right at the same time. It seems to me a case of Nigerians being misled by the minister rather than one of gross failure of arithmetic. Or, could the customs department – a parastatal of the finance ministry – have sexed up the figures to embarrass the minister? Could it be that majority of the waivers were recycled – again – a la Oduahgate when a waiver granted to the Lagos State government became an open-ended one?

    Don’t forget, we are talking here of a variance in excess of N1.2 trillion over a three year period –allegedly lost to the whims of some fat cats in the finance ministry. Did I hear someone scream waiver-gate!!

    Still wondering about what to make of the ill-tempered 100-page epistle put out by the minister who obviously couldn’t imagine the indignity of being questioned by a group of ‘unlearned’ lawmakers? The nation’s treasurer who only a short while ago played the gloater-in-chief over Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s so-called spurious claims of vanishing $49 billion, now on the verge of being docked for terrible crimes ranging from ignorance, bad faith, to figure fiddling? Truly, Nigeria’s wheel of malfeasance spins at the speed of light!

    If you ask me, I think the Lower House may be on to something big here. Big of course is an understatement. Scandal would be a better word. For now, the House should just forget the issue of revisiting the 50 questions. The job at hand seems as easy as plodding from the known to get at the unknown. With or without the theatricals, the exercise promises to be an exciting one. The customs have done a good job to tell us how much has been lost. The puzzle is – to who? The beneficiaries should not be hard to trace; just as their contribution to the economy should not be difficult to evaluate against what they claimed as rationale for obtaining the waivers. Over to you, Messrs Abdulmumin Jibrin and co, of the House Committee on Finance.

     

  • Dikko urges men to be diligent

    Comptroller-General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi has urged his men to be more diligent and committed to work amid plans to generate N1.2 trillion this year.

    He also warned revenue offenders to desist from their illegal activities because hard time awaits them this year.

    He said this year is full of challenges, urging Customs officers to be patriotic in carrying out their responsibilities.

    Abdullahi promised sustained commitment to ongoing reforms and modernisation, adding that the NCS had never had it good in technological transformation than last year when it developed Nigeria Integrated Custom Information System(NCIS) which has started working smoothly.

    He said: “Today the modern Customs is about trade facilitation. We want to prove to the Federal Government that we have come of age and we have built the technological competence that can stand the test of time.”

    The CG explained that part of the board’s resolutions was the elevation of senior officers to managerial positions, following the voluntary retirement of three Deputy Comptroller-Generals (DCGs), who were also members of the board.