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Tag: Customs

  • Customs to commence 24 hours Cargo Clearance at Onne port

    Customs to commence 24 hours Cargo Clearance at Onne port

    Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, in Onne, Rivers state, has commenced moves to operate on a 24 hour basis. This the service said is in a bid to enhance and facilitate quick Cargo clearance at the port.

    The Command’s area Controller, Abubakar Bashir who spoke to newsmen in Port Harcourt, informed that 24 Hours Cargo clearance is feasible at Onne Seaport adding that prompt clearance of Cargo at the seaport is needed to beef up revenue generation for the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    Bashir explained that he was speaking based on a thorough assessment and appraisal of the services operations at the port.

    “The identified challenges prompted me to embark on a holistic and integrated maritime, Oil and Gas stakeholders Forum aimed as facilitating trade and providing lasting solution with a view to achieving 24 hours Cargo clearance at Onne seaport in line with the directives of the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd)”.

    “Customs as a Critical stakeholder in accordance with our statutorily responsibilities is duty bound to ease and fast-track cargo documentation and cargo clearance at the port”.

    “We all have to show patriotism and forthrightness in our various documentation and cargo clearance procedure in line with international standard and best practices”

    “All hands must be on deck on prompt operations and efficient service delivery at the port with inter-government agencies collaboration aimed to protect the fiscal policies of the Federation Government with a turnaround improvement in more revenue generation”

    With this in mind, he urged all stakeholders to be transparent in their declarations and classifications of their goods during cargo clearance at the port.

  • Customs Apapa ports rakes in N136billion, intercept banned export products

    Customs Apapa ports rakes in N136billion, intercept banned export products

    THE Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS) says it raked in over N136 billion as revenue from January to May this year just as it frustrated efforts by a syndicate to export various prohibited goods.

    The Customs Area Comptroller, Mr. Mohammed Jubrin, who made these disclosures in Lagos, said the command’s enforcement unit effected a number of detentions which included containers with different items, such as frozen fish, medicaments, pharmaceuticals which were falsely declared and resulted to under payment of customs duties.

    “We have also intercepted and detained some export containers of scrap metal, wet Blue (leather and unprocessed wood) which falls under export prohibition, Mr Jubrin further informed, concluding that “investigations are ongoing and sanctions will be applied in line with extant laws.”

    On the spike in the generated revenue, the Custom boss disclosed that it represents 38.78 percent of N98billion collected within the same period the previous year

    Apart from the revenue generated from import duties, he continued, over N1.8billion was also realized from identified infractions within the period under review.

    Sounding jubilant, Jubrin informed that on resumption of office, he explained to his officers that value addition must be a propelling force for the command’s team.

    “This implies that we all must be committed to adding value that will leave the command progressively better each day.

    “The principle over time has been internalized by officers and men of the command hence an impressive result recorded in the first five months of the year.” He added

    The Custom command’s boss assured prospective exporters of made in Nigeria products and raw materials of his commands determination to facilitate a flawless trade process.

    “I have already held meetings with all the critical agencies and we have rubbed minds on the smooth operations of the Customs examination centre within Apapa port, the system will continue to be perfected as the project progresses with intention to reduce human contact as well as time spent on cargo clearance,” he further informed.

  • Executive Orders: Customs adopt shift work schedule to run 24hrs port operations

    The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, on Wednesday said it is adopting a shift work schedule to integrate a 24 hour work mode by its officials in and around the port.

    The development is premised on acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s Executive Orders which is meant to ease the operation of various businesses in Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, had on Thursday, May 18 signed three far-reaching executive orders expected to ease business, fast-track budget submission and promote made in Nigeria products.

    Disclosing this to newsmen at a meeting with other stakeholders in Lagos, Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Col Hammed Ali (Rtd) said that the Customs Service had to adopt a shift system with a view to meeting the deadline for the implementation of the of the Executive order.

    Ali also said that the only way to meet up with Executive order was to adopt a shift process of work schedule adding that officer have been intimated and are ready to comply accordingly.

    “There is no way we can stretch one person for 24 hours, so we have to adopt the process of shift and that is the only way we can cover the Executive order on 24 hours port operation effectively” he added.

    Similarly, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has also said that respective Heads of agencies operating in the ports had equally issued directives to their staff to comply with the order.

    She explained that yesterday’s meeting was to evaluate the implementation of the order by the various agencies in the port.

    The NPA boss disclosed that part of the resolution from the meeting was the sustenance of the implementation of the Executive order.

    She said “We are here today to have an interaction around the Executive order on port operation that was issued by the Acting President, and following weeks of implementation, we felt the need for all of us (Heads of agencies) to come together to determine how far our operatives have gone in implementing the Executive orders and also to harmonize our position and have one single implementation stream in implementing the order.

    “We have very fruitful deliberations, we are going to sustain this deliberations as we go into the deadlines for the respective Executive orders.

    “We have the orders as stipulated we have identified them and every agency have committed towards deploying all human infrastructure required to achieve them”.

    She also disclosed that only the NPA, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Port Health, Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), State Security Service, (SSS), Customs and Police are the only agencies allowed in the port.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that the federal government recently barred officials of the Standard Organization of Nigeria, (SON) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) from the port.

     

  • Customs to auction seized goods online July 1

    Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced that it would begin auction of seized and condemned goods to qualified persons on July 1, 2017.

    Customs said it is reopening the suspended auction scheme after about 18 months following successful test running of the new electronic auction portal.

    The information was announced on its website at the weekend.

    It said: “After repeated tests of the e-auction platform Nigeria Customs is now set to deploy the e-auction portal on the 1st of july 2017.

    “The portal is now fully networked to designated banks to ensure money accruing from the auction gets to the Central bank of Nigeria Treasury Single Account for transparency and accountability

    “After receiving the report, the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) directed the auction committee to ensure that only proper pictures of the goods as well as detailed information about each are uploaded to avoid and misgiving.

    “He further stressed the need for more weeks to enable interested members of the public to obtain their Tax identification numbers (TIN) from the federal inland revenue before the commencement date .

    “The platform which is highly interactive will only give access to holders of TIN. Such tax payers will log in, read the guidelines, pay the non refundable one thousand auction fee and proceed to bid for the items on auction”.

    Customs urged all interested persons to get their Tax identification numbers issued by Federal Inland Revenue.

  • Customs hands over 2 stolen Range Rover vehicles to INTERPOL

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tin-Can Island Port Command has handed over to the International Police Organisation (INTERPOL) two Range Rover SUV jeeps suspected to be stolen.

    According to a statement on Friday by the Public Relations Officer, Mr Uche Ejesieme, the Area Controller, Comptroller Bashar Yusuf, said that the interception was sequel to intelligence report from the INTERPOL.

    He said that the vehicles loaded in a 40ft container No. UACN 548368/1 was imported from Washington D.C , U.S. and declared as Toyota Tundra and Chevrolet Cruiz with some bicycles.

    Yusuf said that based on intelligence report made available to Customs by INTERPOL, all consignments from the U.S. were placed on high surveillance to ensure that the suspected container was tracked.

    “The vessel was monitored from the port of loading to Tin-Can Island Port and intercepted on arrival.

    “The vehicles are a gold-coloured Range Rover SUV 2014 with Chassis No.SALGS2VFGEA126188 and another black coloured Range Rover SUV 2015 with Chassis No SALGS37FOFA239330,’’ the controller said.

    He said that the service was ready to partner and share intelligence with all agencies both foreign and local in furtherance of inter-agency collaboration and synergy.

    Yusuf said that the interception would portray the country in good light, considering the efforts of the service in ensuring that the exhibits were tracked.

    He implored the perpetrators to desist from acts capable of bringing the nation to disrepute, particularly in this era of information technology where interception of this nature would be internet-based.

    The controller said that the service would resist any attempt by any individual or organisation to use Nigeria as a conduit pipe for illicit transactions.

    Yusuf said that INTERPOL Nigeria would subject the vehicles to due diligence investigation and would eventually use internal mechanism to repatriate the vehicles to the U.S.

     

     

    NAN

  • Customs seizes 440 US/Italy made guns imported to Nigeria from Turkey

    The Nigeria Customs Service, Tin Can Island Command, on Tuesday, intercepted a container laden with 440 arms and ammunition of various sizes and designs.

    Speaking about the seizure, the zonal commander, Tin Can Island command, Monday Abue, who represented the Comptroller-General, NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), said that the cargo was shipped from Turkey.

    He said that the consignment was declared as Plaster of Paris by the importer.

    Abue explained that the container with registration number PONU 210024/1, was picked up based on intelligence report, adding that investigations were ongoing to unmask the importer.

    According to him, the pump-action rifles were manufactured in the United States of America and Italy.

    He said, “They are pump-action rifles of various designs and also the single-barrelled devices that you are familiar with.

    “We discovered that they used POP to conceal the importation. We have arrested one defendant but due to security reasons, we don’t want to make it public for now because such information could hamper investigations which are still ongoing.”

    According to Abue, the nation had been saved from another round of problem that the rifles would have caused.

    The PRO of the command, Uche Eiesieme, in a statement issued after the press briefing, listed the rifles seized as 100 pieces of Black Tornado single-barrelled rifles, 75 pieces of Silver Magnum single-barrelled rifles, 50 pieces of Altar pump-action rifles, 215 pieces of Black single-barrelled rifles, among other accessories.

    The development is coming after a similar seizure of 661 pump-action rifles early in the year by the NCS, Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, along the Mile Two-Apapa Road in Lagos.

    The rifles, according to the Comptroller-General of the NCS, were imported from Turkey and routed through the Apapa port.

  • Customs redeploy 4,072 senior officers

    Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has approved the redeployment of 4,072 senior officers to commands across the four zones of the service.

    The redeployment is contained in a circular issued on Tuesday in Lagos by Mrs T.M Isa, NCS, Acting Assistant Comptroller-General, Human Resources Department.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the NCS recently redeployed 48 Area Comptrollers.

    The redeployed officers are from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Customs I to the rank of Chief Superintendent of Customs.

    The assistant comptroller-general said that 2,699 Assistant Superintendents of Customs 1, 227 Assistant Superintendents of Customs 11 and 441 Chief Superintendents of Customs were affected by the deployment.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the NCS recently redeployed 48 Area Comptrollers.

    The redeployed officers are from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Customs I to the rank of Chief Superintendent of Customs.

    The assistant comptroller-general said that 2,699 Assistant Superintendents of Customs 1, 227 Assistant Superintendents of Customs 11 and 441 Chief Superintendents of Customs were affected by the deployment.

  • Customs CG approves redeployment of 48 comptrollers

    The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Retired Col. Hameed Ali, has approved the redeployment of 48 comptrollers for more effective and efficient service delivery.

    The redeployment was announced in a statement signed by the Service Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Attah, on Thursday in Abuja.

    The statement said that the redeployment was in line with the ongoing reforms of the service.

    It said that Comptroller Madugu Mustapha was moved from Sokoto/Kebbi/Zamfara Command to Open Company, while Comptroller Udo-aka, E.A was moved from Investigation to Oyo/Osun Command, among others.

    According to the statement, the CGC compliance team has been disbanded, adding that a new team would soon be reconstituted.

    “The new compliance team is divided into three, Team A for Western axis, Team B for Northern axis and Team C for Eastern axis.

    “They are to complement the Federal Operation Units in order to vigorously crackdown on all forms of smuggling activities nationwide with particular focus on the enforcement of non-importation of rice and vehicles through the land borders,” the statement said.

    It said that the new CGC compliance team would be coordinated by Comptroller Azarema Ahmed, who was until the appointment, Comptroller, License and Permit at the headquarter.

    The statement said that each of the axes would be led by an Assistant Comptrollers.

    It said that the CGC expressed his determination to strategically reposition the service as a crucial contributor to the success story of the nation, adding that “all revenue leakages must be blocked.”

    The statement said that the CGC called on all stakeholders to support the service by being compliant as well as provide needed information for the operatives to nip smuggling in the bud.

     

     

    NAN

  • Customs set to license inland bonded vehicle terminals

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it is set to issue licences for inland bonded vehicle terminals in the country.

    Mr Joseph Attah, the Public Relations Officer of the service, disclosed this in an interview newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Attah said that the licence was for motor dealers and any interested persons that wanted to operate inland bonded vehicle terminal in Nigeria.

    He said that interested applicants should have a large plot of land and fenced before he or she could apply.

    “The coming into effect of this bonded vehicle terminals apart from securing government revenue, it will also provide job opportunities for our teeming youths.

    “Security is guaranteed because unlike smuggling, these vehicles come through the bushes across the border which sometime you don’t even know what these vehicles carry inside the country.

    ‘These vehicles are coming from the seaport, properly examined and escorted into the hands of the final users.

    “Today customs is ready for this and any interested persons need to start by writing application through the Area Comptroller of the command where he wants to locate or site his bonded terminal.

    “There is a bond, we call it bonded vehicle terminal, he will have to approach a bank and enter into a bond to the tune of N50 million, a bank bond of N50 million.”

    Attah said that the essence of the bank bond was to ensure that government revenue was secure, adding that a bond from any licensed commercial bank would be accepted by Customs.

    According to him, before introducing bond terminals, the service has carried out studies to know that car park is the major thing that attracts some of Nigerian youths and car dealers to our neighbouring countries ports.

    Attah said that the essence of the vehicle terminal was to strengthen businesses of car dealers and boost employment rate in the country.

    The spokesman reiterated that the requirement to operate bonded vehicle terminals was formal application through the area command of the proposed terminal.

    He said that an environment conductive for working was required, with computerised system that could be connected to Customs ICT.

    He added that others were Certificate of Incorporation, Memorandum and Article of Association and current customs agent licence.

    Attah said that an audited account of the company’s current tax clearance certificate, bank recommendation, among others, were required to operate a vehicle terminal.

    He said that with the help of a bonded terminal, an operator could import vehicle from any part of the world and manifest it as vehicle destined to any terminal within the country.

    He said that on arrival at the seaport, customs officers would escort the vehicles to the dealer’s terminal without payment of duty, adding that the vehicles would stay in his terminal at least 30 days without paying of duties .

    “Customs will establish an outpost within each of these terminals; if any customer comes and buys a vehicle, he will simply pay duty at the customs outpost located in that particular terminal.

    He said that wherever the terminals were commercial banks would begin to open branches because of the volume of commercial transaction that would take place.

    According to him, the vehicle terminals will create job opportunities, ensure security and enhance revenue generation.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the policy of banning importation of vehicles through the land borders took effect on Jan.1.

    Toward the end of January, customs and the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria met to discuss the modalities on how to operate inland bonded vehicle terminals in the country.

     

     

    NAN

  • We will implement import duties payment soon – Customs CG

     

    The Controller-General of the Nigerian Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd) has said Customs will implement the recently suspended import duties payment after consulting widely with relevant stakeholders in the industry.

    Ali said in an interview in Abuja on Friday that the policy is not all about the revenue it will generate for government, but also for security reasons

    ”We want to ensure that we capture virtually all vehicles and tie vehicles to ownership because of the criminal nature of things happening in this country.

    “Somebody can pick your car and go and commit armed robbery or another offence because we do not have the data, we cannot trace the car to the owner. But if every car is tied to the owner, it would make crime detection easier.

    “I can tell you today that there are cars on our streets that have not been registered and there are people with different number plates in their houses. They just attach the number plate on any car they decide to drive and zoom off. This is simply not right.

    “For those of us who have lived in the United States of America, your plate number is your identity. Once they compute your plate number, everything about you will be reflected there. That is the position we want to be in this country.

    “We are consulting and we want to get to that level. We just create the level that capturing the data will be easier for us. The issue of verification is necessary because of the security situation in the country.

    “Also, there is the revenue aspect. You will not deny that we need all the legal money that we need in this country today. It is going to be tasking on us all, but the payment of dues in some country is necessary.

    “We need to understand that some countries survive on tax. It is only in Nigeria that we shy away from paying our dues and people question why they should pay.”

    He further explained that in enforcing the policy, “the Customs will not be as hard as people think.

    “We are human beings. In fact, when the policy came up, I had to go back and look at my own cars to make sure that I am not driving a car that has the wrong papers, while I am expected to enforce the same law on violators.

    “This is what we want people in Nigeria to begin to understand. Yes, we regret the hardship, but honestly, for us to be able to move forward in terms of our security, we must grow a level higher in this country. We cannot attain any level without hardship.

    “It may tamper with our ways of doing things, but in the long run, we shall all be better for it. So for now, you know we have suspended the policy.

    “We are asking for feedback, we will look at the policy and refine it and then we see how best we can apply it without causing hardship to Nigerians. So we have not put a date to it yet. We are still consulting. When we do, we will let Nigerians know.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Senate recently issued an instruction to the Customs boss to stop the implementation of import duties payment till further notice.

    This caused a huge controversy between the Senate and the customs boss who insisted on going on with the implementation.

    He however suspended the policy after intense consultations and debate in the Senate.