Customs Move To Settle Disputes On PAAR To Avoid Congestion At Apapa Port

The Apapa Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service on Monday pledged to resolve all disputes associated with the  Pre-arrival Assessment Report lodged with the command.
The Controller of the command, Charles Edike, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the quick resolution of the disputes was part of efforts to promote the new import cargo clearance policy.
He said that the command would only attend to those who had evidence that they had processed import papers on PAAR from inception to 15th of March.

The Apapa Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service on Monday pledged to resolve all disputes associated with the  Pre-arrival Assessment Report lodged with the command.
The Controller of the command, Charles Edike, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the quick resolution of the disputes was part of efforts to promote the new import cargo clearance policy.
He said that the command would only attend to those who had evidence that they had processed import papers on PAAR from inception to 15th of March.
“They should bring evidence that the PAAR is being processed or meaning that the banks will have to endorse on their PAAR.
“And then with that, we can on the spot, examine those containers and then treat every container as per its own merit.
“Because some are complaining that they have two containers but the documentation is saying five or four or like that.
“Some say the value is even far too high. So whatever challenge that anybody has, let them come, evidence that PAAR is being processed, form M is being opened.
“So that we can, based on that, look at every case on its own merit, treat here and then we now report back to the headquarters.
“So that the headquarters can close those records, instead of a situation where we fall to headquarters, it takes days to and fro.
“We want to actively attend to those containers here and deal with them so that this matter can be resolved once and for all,” Edike said.
NAN reports that some licensed customs agents have complained of high duty on imported goods under the new Pre-arrival Assessment Report policy.
According to some of them, the situation has also led to fears about possible congestion at the ports if nothing was done to address the situation.