The Nigeria Customs Service has urged licensed customs agents, importers and other stakeholders to channel all complaints and grievances they might have against the new import duty rate of N313 Per US dollar.
Shipping Position Daily had broken the news of an increase in the Customs official duty rate calculation from N282 to an all-time high N313 to a dollar.
Speaking with our correspondent on the development, image maker for the Tin Can Island Customs Command, Mr. Chris Osunkwo said that N313 rate will definitely lead to an increase in the revenue realised by customs.
He however corrected that the law was not made by Customs, but that ?it is adjusted on the system by the Federal Ministry of Finance through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He said that officers had resumed work on Monday and found the new rate on the system and this must be applied to all imports with immediate effect.
"We are not in control of the exchange rate, it is the Central Bank that determines the duty through the Federal Ministry of Finance, ours is just to enforce. But definitely, it will increase our revenue?"
"The increase has not really caused any unrest at the port, agents are accessing their jobs, but many of them are lamenting that it would throw them out of jobs because their importer would not want to pay"
"I will advise them to put their acts together and channel their position to the appropriate quarters which is the government, it is not a customs policy?" Osunkwo told our correspondent.
Chairman of PTML Chapter of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Elder Oluwole Obey told Shipping Position Daily that he could not say as yet if agents would go on strike to protest the new exchange rate.
It would be recalled that when customs had increased the duty rate from N197 to N282 in June, the PTML Chapter of ANLCA had protested the increase by going on strike for three days.
But this time, Elder Obey simply told our correspondent that the decision of the clearing agents will be determined by the National Executive Committee (NECOM) of ANLCA.
"No comment. The national secretariat are the ones to take the decision on this matter whether we will embark on strike or not"
"I cannot be calling for a strike action at PTML while Tin Can Port Chapter will be working"? he said.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the National President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu on media, Mr. Joe Sanni said that it is not the duty of clearing agents to protest the new exchange rate for imports.
According to him, clearing agents are not the importers of cargo, they are merely an intermediary.? He charged Nigerian importers to organise themselves and protest the increase.
He said "the people paying are not clearing agents, the importers are not complaining?, meanwhile they are the ones that should engineer the process, it is not for us to kick-start it"
Sanni however said that the increase in the exchange rate will have ripple effect and lead to inflation?, even as he acknowledged that Nigeria is an import-dependent nation and people will still import.
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