Clearing agents operating at the nation’s seaport have called on the Federal Government to review the tariff payable on used vehicles imported into Nigeria.
Shipping Position Daily learnt that the tariff on used vehicles was last reviewed in 2012 under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Recall that during the 2015 presidential campaign, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo had promised maritime sector operators that vehicle tariff would be reviewed and that the auto policy introduced in 2014 would also be scrapped.
However speaking with our correspondent at the PTML Terminal at the Tin Can Island Port yesterday, a clearing agent, Chief Chukwuemeka Shedrack charged the government to make the seaport attractive for vehicle importers after the ban on importation from the land borders.
“Since 2012, the issues of duties on used vehicles have not been reviewed, by now they supposed to review it, moving forward into 2018”
“Vehicles that were charging 2,13,000 dollars, by now they should know that the vehicle must have depreciated to three years, so they supposed to review the duty, these are the areas I want them to look into, the federal government should not remain on same duty for vehicle even when all of them are depreciating”
“You cannot peg the ex-factory price of a vehicle you bought six years ago the same amount today, it is very bad”
“let them review it because since they said no more importation of cars through the borders, they should do this so that those who are smuggling would know they supposed to come to the seaport, pay their duty to the federal government .
You cannot high the duty at the seaport and still expect people to import through the port”
Shedrack said clearing agents are also affected by the valuation system of the Nigeria Customs Service.
He said that the Customs do not have adequate knowledge of ex-factory price of vehicles and they subsequently use their discretion to give arbitrary values to used vehicle importers.
“There are some vehicles that are not known, and there are some new vehicles which customs do not have their ex-factory price, all they do is google the vehicle, check how much it is sold in the factory and they use it to give you price after removing 10percent, this is not good, it does not give you the actual ex-factory price”
He alleged that 2017 and 2018 is not in the ex factory price of the customs.
“As we are talking now some people are using a vehicle of 2018” he said
Also speaking, the Chairman of International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA) PTML chapter, Sunny Nnebe said that there was need for government to change its policies that concerns importation of used vehicles.
According to him, the policies of the government is highly discouraging, “if you look at vehicles that supposed to pay lower than they are paying, government would tell you higher, and after giving you value for a vehicle, by the time you punch and pay your duty, you would see alert from CPC, from Assistant Comptroller, by the time you begging to settle all these people, you must have lost three days, those are the inconsistency of government” he said
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