The Federal Government yesterday in Lagos said it has lifted the ban on the importation of textiles and furniture commodities following the commencement of the implementation of the much awaited ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET).
Textiles, furniture and others have become dutiable, as both commodities have been removed from the Import Prohibition Lists and it is going to be implemented. However, to protect the nation’s local industries, import levies have been developed on these commodities to avoid making Nigeria a dumping ground for the above mentioned cargoes, said Abdullahi Dikko, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the official launch of the implementation of ECOWAS CET.
Dikko, who was represented by Victor Gbemudu, assistant comptroller-general, Zone ‘A’ of the Customs Service, said importers of these goods are now expected to pay 35 percent duty as agreed by ECOWAS member countries, as well as the levy, as contained in the Import Adjustment Tax (IAT).
Explaining the intricacies of CET, he said it would help to reduce cargo diversion if properly implemented, as the tariff is all embracing in the 15 member states of ECOWAS. “CET also comes with some adjustments for member countries. There are 97 chapters with the 5,899 tariff headings but every member country is entitled to three percent adjustment. This three percent adjustment translates into 177 tariff headings to enable member countries protect their local industries.”
Citing example, Dikko said Nigeria has the national automotive policy, sugar policy, rice policy and agricultural policy to protect, and this three percent is supposed to help the country protect these industries. ‘In doing this, Import Adjustment Tax was created.’
He said the introduction of CET would facilitate trade among West African countries and that it would bring about uniform tariff on goods imported from non-ECOWAS countries.
The implementation of CET, which took effect two weeks ago, on the directive of the Federal Ministry of Finance, is said to be flexible, while the full implementation will take effect by year 2020. This flexibility window was created to enable member states adjust their tax systems within the next five year before the full implementation.
Felix Kwakye, a representative of the ECOWAS Commission, assured Nigerians that the commission has also set-up a committee to monitor the implementation, to ensure adequate compliance, so that the provisions of CET would not be abused by members.
Kwakye said CET would help to consolidate the regional market, stimulate regional production capacity and investment, as well as deepeen economic integration.
Tony Anakebe, a renowned maritime analyst, who predicted that the problem of CET may arise from the different currency and exchange rates of the 15 members countries, which to a large extent has significant impact on the cost of imports, as well as the freight rate, also observed that strict monitoring of the implementation is required, to avoid abuse.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
