The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has applauded the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the 21-day grace period it granted importers to regularise their Temporary Admission Permits (TAPs).
SEREC’s Head of Research, Eugene Nweke, applauded the step taken by the NCS in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
NAN reports that NCS had on July 25 announced a 21-day grace period for 223 importers within which to regularise their temporary admission permits, effective July 28.
The NCS said that defaults would amount to a total bond value of about 380 billion naira, adding that it would commence enforcement actions at the expiration of the deadline.
Nweke described the directive as a reflection of the service’s commitment to ensuring trade compliance in its operations.
He added that the directive was a step in the right direction toward recovering revenue lost through infractions.
“The present management team deserves a commendation for taking this bold step, thus sending the right signal towards prompt trade compliance and recovery of huge revenue infractions to the government through this process,” he said.
The SEREC official appealed to the NCS to extend the directive to containers clogging the Nigerian shipping space, as they also fall under the TAP framework.
“Recall that the SEREC had earlier called on the NCS management to apply the same measure to containers littering the Nigerian shipping space, as containers fall under the TAP application.
“As such, it has the mandate to help stabilise the dumping of empty containers in the Nigerian shipping space, hence, mitigating against incessant port congestion,” he said.
According to him, TAP is a customs regime that allows goods to be imported into a country temporarily without paying full duties and taxes, provided they are re-exported within a specified period.
He explained that this permit was usually granted for specific purposes, such as for professional equipment, medical devices, or goods for exhibitions and fairs.
Nweke, however, noted that over the years, the trade facilitation window had been repeatedly abused and should be addressed.
NAN reports that the NCS stated that the enforcement actions at the end of the deadline may include bond invocation, imposition of penalties, and legal proceedings.
