. . . abolishes issuance of Debit Note
The Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS) has said that it will adopt the Electronic system for auctioning of seized cargoes just as it has also abolished the issuance of Debit Note for payment of under declared cargoes.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) warned that any under declaration would be out rightly confiscated and officer caught to have aided the clearance of such cargoes will also face the law.
The Customs boss also said that move to adopt electronic system of auctioning of seized cargoes was to eliminate any form of human contact with officers of the service over the issue of auction.
Disclosing this in Lagos last week, Col. Ali said that all buyers of auction goods from the Customs will now have to bid through an online platform.
He explained that in the course of auctioning the goods, such goods will be sold to the highest bidder, adding that such will only be released to the bidder when evidence of payment to the bank has been provided.
He also disclosed that officers are being monitored on daily basis as any infraction will be punished and punished severely.
The former military officer noted that fighting corruption in Nigeria is a continuous war, adding that the psyche of Nigerians needs to be changed.
Before now, officers of the service auctioned seized goods to themselves and their cronies, thereby abusing the auctioning process.
Also, as a result of the recent seizure of 16 containers laden with new tyres valued at N120million at the Apapa Customs Command, the CGC has stated that the Customs would return to 100% human examination for clearance at the ports.
According to CG Ali, the licensed agents’ abuse of the fast track system of Customs verification made the Customs resort to 100% physical examination of containers, an action which negates trade facilitation.
“We have no option than to subject every goods that comes through the ports to 100% human scrutiny because the privilege of fast tracking has been abused. Nobody, if caught will be handled with kids’ gloves because these kinds of dealings are dangerous to the lives of people”, Ali said.
Speaking further, CG Ali compared licensed agents to lawyers and stressed that an agent should know the actual content of the cargo and should declare correctly even when pressurized to do otherwise by importers.
“If an entry is wrong, you will be held liable as an agent. You owe it to us to declare correctly and to yourself because it is your integrity that is also at stake” Ali said.
The Customs boss also said that the agency would not only revoke the license of the clearing agent, the importer will also be jailed.
He further disclosed that the Customs as a result of the development has abolished the issuance of Debit Note adding that any under declaration or improper declaration will not only be confiscated, the importer and whoever is involved in it will be made to face the law.
He said, “From now, we will stamp our feet, any time we identify any false declaration we follow what is specified in the law and that is total seizure and the law allow us to prosecute whoever that is involved.
“Any officer involved in the issuance of Debit Note on any under declaration will be prosecuted along with the importer.
“We have lost close to N200miollion in terms of duty as a result of the misdemeanour
Meanwhile, the Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Apapa Command, Comptroller Willy Egbudin revealed that the 10 out of 26 containers seized had exited the port.
While the containers were loaded with new vehicle tyres, Egbudin disclosed that the agent had documented the cargo to be steel meant for manufacturing. The deception had led to the Customs losing over N116million in terms of actual duty.
Egbudin also added that the agent had been arrested and the other containers which had exited the ports were being traced.
However the suspect Dominic Obisaku told MMS Plus that he documented the items as instructed by the importer.
Dominic said that it wasn’t the main agent but the job was outsourced to him. However, he refused to divulge the names of his employers, the importer or state how long he had been in business.
Dominic asserted that the containers were 25 and not 26 as reported by Customs and he claimed that the business was the first under the fast track clearance scheme of the Customs.
The CG told MMS Plus that Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) would be invited to examine the tyres before the next action would be taken on the tyres. He however confirmed that the tyres labeled “Double King” would be auctioned if they pass the SON test.
Responding a question on the ongoing Customs reforms, the CG Stated that the Customs is in the process of amending its governing law which is the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA).
