Freight forwarders and licensed customs agents have expressed concern that the Pre Arrival Assessment Reports (PAAR) issued from headquarters of the Nigeria Customs Service in Abuja has created some level of bottlenecks in the clearance of imported used items; especially vehicle spare parts.
The operators also advised that PAAR centre should be decentralised to enable the stakeholders relate with the customs on how to resolve issues with PAAR.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, a top member of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) operating from the Apapa Chapter; Mr. Frank Aliakor said that the value of the underutilised PAAR for such items has skyrocketed..
He alleged that the benchmark for some of the used PAAR on such items including imported vehicles and used spare parts was N2million, but added that it has been outrageously increased to the tune of N29 million for 20ft containers.
Aliakor noted that, “somebody will have a PAAR for N1.8million or N2million and in the process of documentation, you will be told that there is Abuja alert on your PAAR, and the valued is N29 to 30million”
“And as we speak agents are not comfortable with that hike”, he stated.
“The value on used items like spare parts and vehicle was N2million for 20ft, but now is N29million and even the officers are worried about the hike”.
He expressed dissatisfaction over the way officers at the PAAR centre in Abuja would create unnecessary delay in the clearance of containers of imported used spare parts and accessories, noting that the outrageous duty would lead to demurrage in the process.
“We want things to be done decently and not the way the customs is going about the hike in PAAR”, he lamented.
He said the committee for resolution has not been able to address the issues at hand; rather they refer importers and agents to customs headquarters in Abuja for resolution.
Also speaking, a licensed customs broker, Promise Oji said since the introduction for PAAR, there has been a massive acceptability from the operators, but the recent development is causing problems for shippers and agents.
Lamenting, he said: “The way the economy is biting hard on the common man, I don’t think it is right for customs to be making things difficult for us”
“Importation of spare parts is very important in Nigeria, because without spare parts vehicles maintenance and repairs will suffer ,but the customs is making it look difficult for importers “.
The clearing agents said that the local manufacturers cannot meet the demand of Nigerians and to discourage importation of such items will affect the economy negatively.
“Used spare parts importation serves as a palliative measures to cushion the effect of the harsh economy condition of the country”, he added.
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