•‘Rice Seized In 2016, Not 2019, Not Expired’ —Importer
The importers of the containers of rice that were seized by the Nigeria Customs Service and unveiled to the press on Tuesday by the Customs, have called-out the Service, accusing it of being economical with facts about the expiry date of the rice.
Importers of the seized rice; Masters Energy Commodities Trading Limited have spilled the beans. It said that the containers belonged to it, and that they were seized in 2016, and not in 2019 as the Customs had claimed.
While unveiling the containerized rice to the media at the port, the Comptroller General of Customs; Col Hameed Ali(rtd) said that the rice was seized at the Tin Can Island port in Apapa, Lagos.
He had said that the 33 containers of ‘expired’ rice were imported from Thailand and China, he attributed the seizures to the partial closure of the nation’s land border.
He had specifically said that, “one significant finding about this seizure is that all the rice are expired or about to expire” and that the impounded containers had a duty paid value of N2.7 billion.
But, Mr Monday Ubani, a lawyer to the company, said in a statement that “there is no single truth” in the Customs CG’s claims.
According to Mr Ubani, the rice containers were impounded in 2016 because of the inability of the company’s clearing agent to pay the correct tariff on the commodity.
“It was even reported that Masters Energy then petitioned The House Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff that its agent Messrs Destiny Impex Limited, a clearing company registered and licensed by the Customs made a false declaration in order to cut tariffs for the 30 containers of rice,” said Mr Ubani, who is a former vice president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
He added that, “the company indicated willingness to pay the correct tariff as the agent was paid full money but decided to cut down the tariffs in order to avoid paying full value of the tariffs.”
Mr Ubani said Masters Energy later learned that the seized rice had been taken to internally displaced people (IDPs) in the north.
“It is important we point out here that this parboiled rice was purchased from Thailand from a company known as Asia Inter Trade Rice Export Co. Limited with a disclosed address and there is bill of lading to that effect.
“The quantity imported were 60 containers in all. Thirty (30) containers were seized due to the under-declaration by the agent while the remaining 30 containers arrived later at the port by which time the Federal Government has put rice as one of the famous 41 Items that will not enjoy forex of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Due to this policy as aforementioned, the remaining 30 containers remained uncleared and abandoned. We have a letter from Customs Authority asking Masters Energy to seek the approval of Central Bank of Nigeria before they can clear the remaining rice. All these events took place in the year 2016.”
But, in a swift response, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Customs Service, Deputy Comptroller Joseph Attah, accused Masters Energy Ltd of engaging in propaganda.
Mr Attah said the containers presented to the public on October 29 were discovered after “a painstaking profiling” of all unutilised bills of lading in the last one or two months, as directed by the Conmptroller General.
He added that the rice containers seized from Masters Energy Ltd in 2016 had been falsely declared as yeast and had since been distributed to IDPs, insisting that the ones shown to the media on Tuesday were impounded in 2019.
Attah said: “You see container seizures are not used to blackmail anybody because they have numbers,”
“One thing with importers is that, once one of their containers is seized, they won’t come for others for declaration. Recently, the Controller of Customs (CG) directed that all unutilised bill of lading should be profiled.
“While going to the terminals to search for these unutilised containers, we discovered these containers because the importers and agents failed to come for actual declaration of content and clarification.
“I think these people that have committed this act should be rather worried about their actions and not come up with propaganda. These containers seized were through profiling and not sentiment. If you know the CG, you will know he cannot be confused with cheap propaganda.”
On his part, Masters Energy Commodities put the blame on the clearing agent who claimed the “job was captured as another item” because when they submitted the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) as rice to the Customs, it was rejected on the grounds of no proof of funds.
According to a letter by the clearing agent, Destiny Impex Limited, to the Nigeria Customs Service dated August 26, 2016, the containers were physically examined and a Demand Notice for rice was raised, with the knowledge of the Customs Area Controller and DC Valuation.
The agent said he was about to make payment, after the Customs officials had raised the proper Demand Notice for rice, when a directive came from Controller General’s office that the containers be impounded.
However, the Customs said for falsifying the document and “attempting to cheat the government”, the over 14,000 bags of rice in the containers would be seized without any option of payment by the importer.
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