Customs CG Col. Hameed Ali (retd)
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR–The Nigerian Custom Service said it contributed a total of N1.292 trillion as revenue into the federation account from January to June, 2022.
This is contained in a statement released by the National Public Relations Officer of the Customs, Timi Bomodi during the unveiling of the Service Half Year Score Card on Friday in Abuja.
According to Bomodi, the amount generated surpassed the achievements of the Service last year by N289,364,116,786 or 28.83% adding that this is even more remarkable given the fact that only 116,691 Pre-Arrival Assessment Reports (PAARs) were issued against 129,667 processed in the same period of 2021.
He added that a total of =N=156,315,758,646.18 was also generated into the non-federation account as collections made on behalf of other Government Agencies.
On excise duty being tax levied on the manufacture, sale and consumption of goods under excise control was collected through 22 Commands of the Service he said “A total of =N=68,015,808,146.61 was collected from manufacturers of beer, spirits and other alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and tobacco among other products from January to June, 2022.
“Also in the month of June, the Service commenced collections from extant traders producing carbonated and sugary drinks newly added under schedule 5 of the CET. So far, the Service has collected from carbonated and sugary drinks more than one billion Naira in the month of June.
“Other revenues from telecommunication (call and data), and digital network services are yet to be collected. NCS is expected to start collecting revenue on these products and services as soon as the modalities for collection are put in place. Duties from these revenue sources are expected to boost our collections in the current year.
“Of the 42 Free Trade zones in Nigeria only 25 are active, with 15 of them operating in Zone ‘A’, 4 in Zone ‘B’, 5 in Zone ‘C’ and 1 in Zone ‘D’. in addition to providing employment opportunities for Nigerians, these Special Economic Zones are expected to engender the transfer of technology, help build local capacity, provide viable market for other local producers of raw materials and increase the quality of goods which can potentially be available in the local market on the payment of relevant duties and taxes.
On enforcement and anti-smuggling he said ” there have been remarkable interventions in the anti-smuggling activities of the Service. In the period under review various goods with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of =N=39,174,678,983.00 were seized due to regulatory and policy infringements. The top seven items seized are narcotics and other illicit drugs with a DPV of =N=8,768,311,517.00, followed by foreign parboiled rice with a DPV of =N=8,251,353,292.00, and illegal imports of dangerous pharmaceuticals with a DPV of =N=7,630,764,524.00.”
Other items are used clothing with a DPV of =N=4,051,244,924.00, petroleum products with a DPV of =N= 3,698,181,138.00, textiles and made up fabrics with a DPV of =N=2,561,361,989.00 and motor vehicles with a DPV of =N=1,853,084,115.00. The DPV value of seizures in the current year exceeds that of seizures made in 2021 by a whopping =N=34,752,130,003.00.
On illegal wildlife and trafficking/ trade, the service in collaboration with the United States embassy in Nigeria, the British and German governments, enabled the creation of a Special Wildlife Office which has spearheaded an intelligence driven approach to curbing the illicit trafficking and trading in endangered species.
Their effort he said has seen to the arrest of 12 foreign and local suspects, the confiscation of 1,236.5 kg of pangolin scales and 145 kg of ivory. All suspects have since been charged to court and await conviction.
On anti-Money laundering Unit (AML) he said the Service made seizures of 339,800 USD, 12,000 POUNDS, 3,013,500 RYD, 20,005 CFA, and 133 ATM cards.
He added that 7 persons were arrested in violation of the Anti-Money laundering Act and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.
He said the service is optimistic about achieving the revenue target set for it by government. “Our focus is on fortifying our risk management tools to drastically minimize leakages and curtail the activities of non compliant traders. We understand the important role of technology in this endeavor that is why our focus is on actualizing the full automation of all our activities as encapsulated in the concession agreement vetted by Infrastructure Concession Regulation Commission (ICRC) and signed with Trade Modernization Nigeria Limited and our technical partners Huawei Technologies Limited. This agreement promises to usher in a whole new era that will radically transform the operations of the Service and bring it at par with leading Customs Administrations.”
