Following the expiration on the 24th of July, 2016 deadline for the operation of the Electronic Provision Clearance Certificate (EPPC), the Director-General of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has notified the importing public and their agents of the list of penalties for consignments shipped into the country without the SONCAP.
It will be recalled that the Acting Director-General of SON, Dr. Paul Angya in April, 2016 following appeals from the stakeholders extended the EPPC operation till the 24th of July, 2016 so as to enable them to clear backlog of imports trapped as a result of the then closure of the portal warning that on expiration in July, the organization would no longer re-open the portal.
In a circular issued on the 25th July, 2016 by the head, Ports and Borders of SON, Mr. Albert Wilberforce and made available to Primetime Reporters, SON stated that importers were to pay an amount equals to 20% Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) per shipment or N2, 000, 000 whichever was higher as stipulated in SON Act 14 of 2015 based on Form M value adding that such consignment should be processed using the SONCAP Default Certificate.
According to the statement,” To complement the above at PAAR (Pre-Arrival Assessment Report) stage of each consignment/bill of lading, since we cannot access CIF value for PAAR before PAAR approval, importers to pay the following as minimum;(a) SON’s input for Form M –N1, 000, 000 ( to be verified before activation of PAAR on CBN page on trade portal) (b) SON’s input for PAAR (i) 1 container= N500, 000. 00 (ii) 2-4 containers=N700, 000. 00 (iii) 5-9=N1, 500, 000.00 (iv) 10 containers and above= N2, 000, 000. 00. 20% CIF based on Form M value, whichever is higher.
“This new rates come into action with immediate effect”.
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