Amiwero blasts Customs over import duty waiver

National President of the National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, has berated the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for poor implementation of the import duty waiver/exemption system.
During a chat with SHIPS&PORTS DAILY on Monday, Amiwero said that duty exemption on some goods coming into the country by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was designed to open up the economy, create employment and generate wealth for the country.
“The administration of Goodluck Jonathan is the only democratically elected government that has given waiver on the importation in the agriculture, power and oil and gas sector components in order to make the economy viable and provide jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.
“The Customs has not been able to implement the waiver as designed. All what they are after is revenue generation but what is the essence of revenue generation when the country’s economy is not opened up or when the teeming youths are unemployed,” he asked rhetorically.

Amiwero charged Customs to implement the waiver system with diligence and stop playing politics with it.
He also disclosed that the NCS collects duties on goods, materials and products that were duty exempt.
He said: “Customs delay containers that are captured in waivers, and on the long run they raise debit note which the importers are asked to pay and they must pay. Also, agents pay for demurage because the containers are stored.”
He also chided the Customs Comptroller General, Dikko Inde Abdullahi over a recent document attributed to him contradicting the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s figures on duty waivers.

“Customs has no right to make statement on waiver. If they have any disagreement with the Finance Ministry which is the supervisory ministry of the Nigeria Customs, they should have gone to the Minister and sort it out and should not have gone to the National Assembly,” he said.