MAN commends FG suspension of re-introduced 4% FOB charge

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has commended the Federal Government over the recent suspension of the reintroduced four percent Free-on-Board (FOB) charge on imports, which came into effect on August 4, 2025.

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, director general of MAN, in a statement, said that this move comes as a relief to members of the association and the broader manufacturing sector, which he said has been anxiously concerned about the imposition of the charge.

Kadir added that MAN is confident that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), in keeping with its ongoing commendable reforms, will swiftly communicate the directive to all relevant commands, so that the charge will go off its portal, while they earnestly await the full restoration of the B’Odogwu platform.

Read also: FG suspends contentious Customs 4% FOB charge on imports

He said that the suspension has brought instant succour and encouragement to the manufacturing community in Nigeria and is great news to the business community.

“The Minister just saved our country from a self-inflicted price escalation that could have unsettled the widely acknowledged stability and repurposing this administration has achieved.

“Though it was meant to boost the much-needed government revenue, the charge is akin to an ‘own goal’ in a football match,” Kadir said.

MAN DG also stated that the reintroduction of the charge was quite concerning and they were genuinely apprehensive that it would lead to a significant escalation in the cost of raw materials, machinery and spare parts that are not available locally and therefore have to be imported.

Read also: Suspension of 4% FOB levy on import will protect jobs – Airline operators

“We reiterate our commitment to working with the Government and the NCS to streamline trade processes, reduce the cost of doing business at the port and enhance fiscal transparency,” MAN DG stated, while noting that this is the best way to guarantee an efficient and friendlier trade facilitation ecosystem for the business community and by extension the overall wellbeing of the Nigerian citizenry.

“We had outlined the basis for our objection to the charge, after a technical assessment and extensive consultation with our more than 2,500 members, who operate in 10 sectors and more than 60 sub-sectors across the country.

“It became evident that the cost implication of the 4 percent FOB charge was significantly higher than the combined effect of the subsisting 7 percent surcharge and 1 percent CISS, thereby impacting heavily on the cost of our inputs; the higher cost will be passed on to consumers and this will fuel inflation, which already stands at 21.88 percent as at July 2025, and undermine the prevailing struggle with high inflation,” Kadir stated.

MAN recommended that the government should organise an inclusive stakeholders’ consultation to determine the appropriate level of charges that will guarantee the efficient performance of NCS; be in line with prevailing trends, and, quite importantly, promote increased productivity.

Read also: Customs engages finance ministry on substitutes for suspended 4% FOB charge

“Government should review the outcomes of the above-listed measures and ensure its alignment with the spirit and letters of the recently introduced Tax Laws, so that they are mutually reinforcing and not at variance.

“We are confident that this is to demonstrate the NCS’s intentional alignment with prevailing best practices among comparable economies and be supportive of the productive sector of the economy.” Kadir stated.

MAN urged the Federal Government to continue implementing policies that promote industrialisation, reduce the cost of doing business, and encourage domestic production by eliminating various binding constraints that hamper manufacturing growth and economic development.