09/05/2016

Decline in imports threatens Customs’ N1tn revenue target



A drop in the volume of imports in the country has led to a decline in revenue generated in the first quarter of the year at seaports by the Nigeria Customs Service and put its N1tn revenue target for the year at risk.
At the Lagos seaports, which are the busiest in the country and in West Africa in terms of vessel traffic and cargo throughput, a 21 per cent drop in revenue was recorded in the first quarter, the Customs Area Controller, Willy Egbudin, said last week.
The command had generated N61.7bn in the first quarter of this year as against N74.71bn generated in 2015.
Egbudin blamed the drop in revenue to the general economy down turn, which had in turn affected the number of vessels calling at the sea ports. He said they were fewer bulk cargoes because importers had been denied access to foreign exchange.
Stakeholders on their part attribute the drop in imports to the Central Bank’s monetary policies, including the restriction of access to the dollar.
At the Tin-Can Island Command of the NCS, a revenue shortfall of N2.7bn was recorded in the first quarter of 2016, compared with the corresponding period of 2015.
The Public Relations Officer of the command, Chris Osunkwo, said that the command generated N58.9bn in the first quarter of 2016, as against N61.6bn generated in the corresponding period of 2015.
Although as of the time of this report, the PTML command of the Customs had yet to release its Q1 report for the year, its Public Relations Officer, Steve Okonmah had in an interview in February, lamented that only one container was being examined daily by the command.
This is as against an average of 98 containers examined daily as was obtainable in previous years. He lamented that this was the worst hit the command had taken to its revenue since its inception.
He had said, “Vehicle imports meant for the Nigerian market are now imported through Republic of Benin.
“There, importers are required to pay only N600, 000 as duty for clearance as against N2.5m customs duties in Nigeria including charges for Cost Insurance Freight.
“Cotonou relies only on import and 99 per cent of the imports find their way into Nigeria.”
The only command with positive results is the Seme Customs Command, as it had so far improved on revenues generated in the first quarter of 2015.
With the exception of April, the results so far obtained from the command, show that it has generated for the months so far,N2.69bn as revenue. This is as against N1.67bn which it generated in 2015 for the period under review.
National President of the National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents, Lucky Amiwero, said the situation was an outcome of the forex policy and current exchange rate of the naira.
He said, “About 80 per cent of importers have shut down their businesses because of the current exchange rate. They cannot afford to continue business because they would need more money to raise the required foreign exchange for imports.
“It is a problem because it is small companies like these that really employ people. Each company might employ just a few numbers, but when you take a holistic look at the industry, you will see that the number is quite substantial.”
President of the Lagos Shippers Association, Mr. Jonathan Nicol, also appealed to the Federal Government to save the sector which was being choked by the exchange rate.
He said there was the probability that more shippers would move to other West African countries, to do business.
Nicol said, “We have made our submission to the government, to take another look at the various import policies in the light of the current economic situation. Adjustments should be made so that the industry doesn’t collapse.”

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