The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has explained that the high exchange rate has made it look as if the 10% depreciation on imported vehicles is not being implemented.
The Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone ‘A’ of the service, Kaycee Ekekezie, an Assistant Comptroller General of Customs who said this in a chat with Shipping Position Daily recently in Lagos, also said that traditionally, there is supposed to be 10-50% depreciation on imported used vehicles.
She also said that the service is not benchmarking, even as she added that all valuation officers in the commands are working with the data base for assistance.
“Yes, there is as a matter of time, all the valuation officers have our data base, it is of assistance to them, we are not benchmarking. But WCO allows data base, so in that data base you will see the values of all the vehicles as the depreciation carries them. Traditionally, they all supposed to depreciate from 10% to 50%; as this is 2019 that means the value of that vehicle today will be depreciated by 10% to get the value last year, that is what it means”, she explained.
Ekekezie however blamed government policies and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the reason there is instability in the exchange rate.
“I will tell you what happened that made it look like the depreciation is not working, it is the exchange rate. Take for instance in 2013, the exchange rate was less than N135 to $1, but today I am hearing N326 from where it has been for a very long time. In fact in 2016 we operated six exchange rates, you will just check in the morning you will see it there it is not customs, it is the CBN”
“As a matter of fact, I wrote some of the memos that the CGC has been presenting on this exchange rate issue, but you know that if you have the CET, vehicles are 20% apart from bus. But here in Nigeria, they are doing 35% and if they are brand new it is another 35% making it 70% it is not customs it is government policy”, she explained further.
The Customs Zone ‘A’ boss also expressed hope that the government will pay attention to some of the policies affecting trade in the country.
“We have been saying it and the CGC recently has taken it up again and by God’s grace, the government will pay attention. I remembered that when I joined customs my first area of deployment was Tin Can. If you wanted to buy a car then you will just go to Car Park ‘C’, the importers are there you will see the clearing agents, they are lined up with their typewriters by the side and you will also see mechanics in their own corner”
“So, you go there you want any car the importer is there; you speak with him, you pay for the car, the clearing agent is there, they will take up the job pay for the duty and the car will be yours within three hours. I don’t know what has happened. This is the question we have been asking; it is the government policy but I want you to know that government policies are usually done with good intentions, but somewhere along the line, you will see that some people somewhere will just summersault it” she concluded.
Discussion about this post