The Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (AREFFN) has called on the Federal Government to put measures in place to ensure that duty payable on imported new vehicles is low and that of imported used vehicles high.
Secretary of AREFFN, PTML Chapter; Elder Festus Ajomaho in a chat with Auto Port Weekly, stressed the need for government to encourage importation of new vehicles, saying that such a move would bring about a drop in the influx of substandard vehicles.
He said “the newer the vehicle, the lower the duty”, pointing out duty hike on used vehicles would lead to reduction of substandard vehicles into the country.
“We are canvassing that if the Nigeria Government wants to help matters in line with the automobile sector, it should consider a situation whereby the newer the vehicle imported into the country, the lower the duty”
“The older the vehicle, the higher the duty because that will help reduce the influx of all manner of vehicles that find their ways into the country”, he stated.
The AREFFN executive noted that the level of junks and rickety vehicles imported to Nigeria is still high.
He said that the Nigerian automobile sector is yet to kick-start fully, adding that new imported vehicles have what it takes to last longer.
The AREFFN chapter scribe further called for encouragement of duty reduction on imported newly vehicles, while not hampering local manufacturing in the country, saying that the key factor militating against local production is lack of electricity and unstable policies of the Nigerian government.
The frontline freight forwarder also added that “the local car manufacturers do not have facilities on ground and they don’t have what it takes for Nigeria to commence car manufacturing in the nearest future”
“Anybody that says Nigeria has started manufacturing cars is a lair because, you don’t manufacture vehicles with generating sets”
“For the manufacturers to sustain the project of vehicles assembling in Nigeria, they must have standard power in place that will be uninterrupted ”
“For the manufacturers to make any progress in car assemblage, they must use electricity and not generating sets”, he stressed.
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