The Nigeria Customs Service yesterday formally presented its draft Bill for amendment of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) to maritime industry stakeholders for observation and input before submission to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
In his opening remarks, Customs Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali said it was pertinent for the service to subject the Act for stakeholders’ scrutiny in line with provisions of World Customs Organisation (WCO)
He noted that customs has over the years clamoured for a review of its laws in order to realign it modern realities. Specifically, Ali said that the service needed to take a second look at the provisions of CEMA in terms of sanctions; he said the punishments are not deterrent enough to promote compliance.
Alli however warned that Customs will not pass the CEMA to the National Assembly for review if any of its sections is in conflict with any other existing Act, including the CRFFN Act.
Meanwhile, a cross section of stakeholders at the event unanimously kicked against Section 5 of the draft bill which suggests that the Comptroller General of Customs be made Chairman of the Board of Customs, as against the previous provision which gives the position to the Minister of Finance.
Also, the age long rivalry between the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) over the licensing regulations of the customs played up.
Those that kicked against Customs CG chairing the board included: the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) led by its president, Mr. Frank Jacobs Udemba, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) represented by Mr. Momoh Alhassan, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) represented by Mrs Julie Ogboru and ANLCA led by Prince Olayiwola Shittu.
Others are: the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMARTO) as well as many private organisations and individuals.
The MAN, in its submissions suggested among others, that the Customs CG could at most, be Vice Chairman of the board while the Minister of Finance should still be head of Customs board.
ANLCA President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, while doing a detailed critic of the law suggested that the minister of finance be retained as the board chairman, even as he prayed that ANLCA be given a slot on the board.
He argued that customs must stop issuing licenses to individuals, and it should only license corporate bodies.
Shittu also said that 10% of the revenue collected by the customs be given back to the clearing agents as facilitators of such revenue. He called for indemnity of agents in any wrongful imports and that blocking of customs licenses should be stopped.
NIMASA on its part demanded that the agency be placed on the board of the Customs alongside NPA and ANLCA. The agency also prayed that the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) should be removed from the Customs board and replaced with NIMASA. "As far as the maritime sector is concerned, we are the only one qualified to develop capacity of operators"
It also argued that cargo manifests of the Customs should be made available to all government agencies.
On his part, an External Solicitor for the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN); Barrister Okwudili Alagbu cautioned that the CEMA must not be reviewed without taking the CRFFN into consideration.
Alagbu said that new CEMA should state clearly that anyone who seeks to practice customs brokerage should first of all be licensed by the CRFFN.
On his part, founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam simply said that NAGAFF is willing to support the Customs CG as Chairman of the board.
Responding, the Customs CG expressed surprise at the refusal of stakeholders to accept Customs head as chairman of customs board, saying that this is the only option to facilitate trade.
He warned that placing the Finance Minister as Chairman of Customs board will subject operations of customs to government bureaucracy.
"If you look at FIRS, CBN and others, the board is chaired by their boss, the Customs service needs to be semi-autonomous and when you subject it to government bureaucracy, it will cause delay in trade processes"
"My minister has a lot on her hands already, so it means that I must get approval from my minister before I can act on any of your complaints, even if your vessel is delayed at the port with perishable goods"
"The issue of customs chairing the board should not scare us, so far the laws are complied with, we are not trying to make customs untouchable by this law, we are doing so in order to facilitate trade for everyone" he said.
"As the primary users of this law, we have subjected the draft document to another round of review, asking ourselves hard questions, learning from other climes and generally coming out with a draft that will enhance the performance of our job"
"Our objective is to produce a document that will address all fears and concerns associated with building strong and economically viable nation", he stated.
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