The continuous bickering between Customs Licensed Clearing Agents and officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the implementation of Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for imported cars Tuesday crippled commercial activities at Tin-Can Island Port, Lagos, one of the nation’s busiest seaports.
VIN which was introduced by Customs in January 2022 uses artificial intelligence to issue appropriate duties payable on an imported vehicle. But the freight forwarders oppose this insisting that the flaws and delays must be corrected before the implementation.
Last week, they issued a 72-hour strike notice to Customs which expired on Monday. Yesterday, they began the strike, grounding commercial activities at the port.
The clearing agents revealed that there was no consideration for rebate and depreciation value for imported vehicles on the system noting that payable vehicle duties have risen by over 300 per cent.
Taskforce chairman of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) at Tin Can Port Chapter, Alhaji Rilwan Amuni, said the VIN Valuation policy of the customs is hindering trade facilitation at the port.
“The genesis of the protest is from the VIN Valuation introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service. It was designed for us to have fewer interfaces with officers. If you input the information of your vehicle, it gives you the value to be paid electronically.
“For example, a Mazda 2007 vehicle for which you were paying N250,000 as value before; when you input now, it brings a payment value of N2 million. How much will the vehicle be sold?”
But the National Public Relations Officer of Customs, Timi Bomodi, insisted that the consensus view of most clearing agents appears to favour a harmonised value system that is consistent across all Customs platforms.
Bomodi said clearing agents during consultations demanded the discontinuation of the discounted value method which allowed for the subjective considerations of Customs officers in the Customs Valuation Unit who rely mainly on the book value of vehicles discounted at a fixed rate over time.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
