The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has condemned calls in some quarters that the Federal Government should increase the revenue target it normally set for the Nigeria Customs Service this year so as to make up for shortfalls from the oil market describing it as the greatest mistake the government would make.
The National Secretary of NAGAFF, Hon. Increase Uche who disclosed this in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos stated that setting target for the Nigeria Customs by the Federal Government at the beginning of every year had not been the best for the industry.
He noted that Customs all over the world was talking about trade facilitation noting that the Nigeria Customs should not concentrate more on import or making laws benchmarking what should be the duty payable without exploring other means of generating revenue even as he said that trade facilitation encompassed import and export.
According to him,” look at the import prohibition list, it is on the increase that even some trade goods are prohibited which doesn’t tell well of the industry. So, for the government again to give the customs more target so as to make up with the fall in the oil price, it will be the greatest mistake”.
“See, even if customs is allowed to operate at the very level it is now and proper accountability is taken, because there is a lot of money going in through corruption, there is no pretense over it. So, raising the bar for the customs that they should collect more money, the money is there, let them go and collect it”.
“The people advocating it, are they appointed by the government? Are they financed by the government to go and bring goods to the country? What of the money that is to be generated from the excise duty if the factories are working? That area, is it not revenue generation? If the factories are working and functional, money could equally accrue through it to the Federal Government”.
He however added that the slide in the oil prices was even good for the country because it would enable the government look inward and explore other means of generating money from the economy as well fix the refineries in the country so as to avoid the importation of refined petroleum products into the country.
“And again, some of these oil that are being stolen, there will be check now. So, it is an opportunity for some other people, it happened in 2009. Government should not think of giving the customs more target. What it should think of is, the very target it had given to the customs, it is surpassable with what is going on because this money, the over nine hundred billion they gathered is just about one third of what should have been collected from what we had seen in the industry”.
“If they want, we give them analysis because some of those cargoes they sell on auction is about less the value of those consignments. Aside that, do we actually have the records of cargoes coming in and going out? There is no proper record”, he said.
