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Worried by the impact of the activities of fraudulent importers on revenue collection from the ports, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has solicited for the support of freight forwarders in order to put an end to such illegalities.
Aminu Dahiru, assistant comptroller general (ACG) and Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone ‘A’, who made the appeal when he visited the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) headquarters in Lagos last week, urged the freight forwarders to put the nation’s interest first by desisting from patronising unpatriotic and fraudulent importers, who import prohibited products into the country.
Dahiru said that while Customs is making efforts to improve on its operations, freight forwarders should also learn to see Customs as partners in progress.
“If you, forwarders are aware of what you are clearing, nothing is wrong if you say no to such business. So, whatever is not allowed, please do not be a party to it. This association can help by encouraging its members to desist from accepting jobs that are prohibited.”
According to him, Customs NICIS 11 has provided accountability and transparency in the Customs documentation process; however, he urged the freight forwarders to update the addresses of their agencies to avoid their licenses being blocked.
“We cannot understand why an agency would be operating and when they want to change address, they just move out without informing Customs. This is why agencies are blocked due to unknown addresses,” he said.
Increase Uche, President of NAGAFF, called for a review of Customs procedures under the NICIS 11 platform, adding that the platform has created more problem than value addition to the clearing process.
Uche appealed to the Customs boss to help address the issue of incessant alert on consignments.
Boniface Aniebonam, founder of NAGAFF, who condemned seizure of traded goods, urged Customs to provide window for importers of such goods to pay additional duty rather than outright seizures.
“Collection of duty is the primary role of Customs while anti-smuggling operation falls under ancillary functions. We are not sure that Customs has enough warehouses to keep seized goods. Why don’t we penalise the importer by ensuring that the appropriate duty is paid instead of allowing imports to waste as seizures?” he asked.
