The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service Strike Force has intercepted unprocessed woods worth over N48million in Apapa.
The is coming barely a week after the strike force intercepted about 3420 bags of foreign parboiled rice smuggled into the country from Benin Republic.
Speaking to newsmen on the seizure, the Zonal Commander, Zone ‘A’ of the Strike Force, AC Salisu Asaba Bullah said the unprocessed woods were on their way out of the country.
Asaba Bullah who disclosed that the unprocessed woods fell under export prohibition list said the consignments have been seized and are presently under detention.
He said; "the Trucks were brought to Federal Operation Unit, Ikeja Government Warehouse where physical examination was conducted on the said containers and it revealed unprocessed wood. A seizure entry was made since unprocessed wood fall under export prohibition list."
It could be recall that the Forestry Department in 2016 said the maximum allowable dimensions of unprocessed woods for exports are length 30mm-350mm, width 50mm-360mm and thickness 25mm-345mm.
Also, exporters of unprocessed woods must have all the required permits including, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) certificate for exports, strict compliance with the provisions of the extant guidelines for non-oil exports, completion of Nigeria Exports Proceeds form and that of the customs service ,opening of letter of credit for buyers and repatriation of foreign exchange proceeds arising from the approval into the company’s domiciliary account in Nigeria, and all the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) certificate required for the establishment of any company.
The permit to all semi-processed and processed wood exporters, procedures, guidelines and documentation for export of semi-processed and processed wood exporters from Nigeria also includes letters of request from prospective buyers, evidence of permits from the state where the wood will be sourced, pre-visit to the factory site by relevant officers from the Federal Department of Forestry among others.
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