By Kenneth Jukpor
Amid the ongoing amendment of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA), freight forwarding groups have insisted that the Minister of Finance continues to serve as the Governing Board Chairman of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The practitioners noted that Section 4 which focused on the constitution of the Customs board, in Sub-Section (3a) stipulates that: “A Chairman who shall be appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the National Assembly, shall be a retired Officer not below the rank of a Deputy Comptroller General for a period of four (4) years and may be renewed once and no more.”
Noting that the clause had excluded the Finance Minister, the group proposed an amendment as follows: “Sub-Section (3a) A Chairman, who shall be appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the National Assembly, shall be Minister of Finance.”
The group made this known in a letter addressed to the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise at the National Assembly, requesting legislative action to amend and expunge some aspects of the CEMA.
According to the letter signed by the Presidents of the five registered associations, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Hon. Tony Iju Nwabunike, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Tochukwu Esizi, Nigerian Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC), Prince Adeyinka Bakare, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (AREFFN), Alhaji Bala Daura and National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Mr. Ifeanyi Anakweze, several aspects of CEMA have to be reviewed.
On the General Operational Powers of Customs and Customs Offences; Section 227 Sub Section (2a) which states that “Any officer engaged in the enforcement of the Customs and Excise Laws may for that purpose patrol upon and pass freely over and enter any place in Nigeria, and such officer shall not be liable for prosecution,” the group added this clause “Provided the action is in line with International Convention and National Legislation Law of the Federation of Nigeria.”
While the new CEMA condemns anyone who fires upon any ship, aircraft or vehicle which is been used for the purpose of enforcing the CEMA to death by hanging, the freight forwarding groups proposed that such persons “shall be prosecuted in line with Administration of Criminal Justice, Act 2015.”
The group, however, pushed for the inclusion of two representatives of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (CRFFN) on the Customs board and stated that these representatives must be practicing freight forwarders. In its current state the CEMA allows for one representative without emphasis on the profession of the representative.
On the aspect of Customs Service Control in Section 31(1b) which states that “the control by the Service includes taking samples”, the practitioners stressed that the samples be captured as “returnable samples”
The group also called for an amendment of Section 31 Sub Section (3) which states that “in carrying out the examinations of goods or any means of transportation, an officer may use such reasonable and appropriate force to gain access to any locked cargo, storage compartment or any area where credible and reasonable suspicion and probable grounds exists to warrant the search of the compartment or area and to examine the goods or means of transportation without any warrant”, demanding the Customs officers must have a search warrant.
On licensing warehouses, the group demanded that Insurance Guarantees be included as an alternative to bank guarantee for the due payment of all duties, Excise Taxes, other Taxes and Fees in an amount as the Service may require.
While a 5-year imprisonment term is captured in CEMA as punishment for persons who intimidate, harass or threaten an officer by any means other than the use of a weapon, the group added that such punishment be captured under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
Several sections of the CEMA were also recommended for expulsion, even as the group lamented that it wasn’t consulted amid the ongoing review of the CEMA.
