… As Comptroller Musa bemoans lack of Government Warehouse close to port
The Tincan Island Port command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it collected a total of Four Hundred and Ninety-Three Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Four Million, Seventeen Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Six Naira, Eighty-One Kobo (N493,754,017,176.81) as revenue for the outgone year 2021.
The Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Musa Baba Abdullahi who disclosed this in a 2021 annual report of the command released in Lagos on Tuesday said that the amount exceeded the 2021 revenue target of Three Hundred and Fifty Billion, Sixty-Four Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira (N350,064,600,000.00) set for the command by the Federal Government by One Hundred and Forty-Three Billion Naira (N143,000,000,000) representing 41.05 percent.
Musa stated that the figure indicated an improvement in revenue by One Hundred and Seven Billion, Nine Hundred and Ninety-One Million, Five Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifteen Naira (N107,991,549,315.00) representing 28 percent from the Three Hundred and Eighty-Five Billion, Seven Hundred and Sixty-Two Million, Four Hundred and Sixty-Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-One Naira, Thirty-five Kobo (N385,762,467,861.35) revenue collected by the command in 2020.
He went on to disclose that in the area of trade facilitation, a new terminal, namely – Classic III Bonded Terminal was opened under Tincan Island command thereby improving the cargo throughput and revenue collection of the command.
The Comptroller further revealed that a total of 30,441 containers were transferred under the fast track while 58, 234 containers and vehicles were approved for transit from the mother port to Bonded Terminals in the year under review.
According to him, “With the successful implementation of a Standard Operational Procedure (S.O.P.) on barge movement, 36,496 containers were transported form Tincan Island Port command through the waterways by barge to Bonded Terminals and Free Trade Zone.”
Musa pointed out that the rating of the compliance monitoring activities showed that compliance levels improved significantly noting that out of 166,903 SGDs registered in 2021, there were 2,484 interventions representing 1.5 percent.
“This shows an enhanced compliance rating of about 63.4% and an improvement from the 2019 compliance rating of 15,295 (9.4%) out of 162,110 SGDs registered”, he added.
In the area of enforcement and anti-smuggling, the CAC observed that the command in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) made a seizure of cocaine with a net weight of 43.110kg concealed in 40 bags of raw sugar packaged in bulk aboard the vessel MV SPAR SCORPIO.
“Twenty suspects and the vessel were detained in connection with the seizure. However, the command was directed to handover the case file, vessel and suspects to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency according to Standard Operational Procedures.
“Seizure was also made of two (2) automatic rifles with 164 rounds of live ammunition which were intercepted in a 1x40ft container MEDU 49022/5. They have since been handed over to the DSS. Additionally, a total of 151 containers made of 149 (40ft), 2 (20ft) and 9 uncontainerized cargo were intercepted and seized by the enforcement team with a total Duty Payable Value (DPV) of N607,348,617.00”, he stated.
Speaking on export, the Customs Area Controller informed that total of tonnage of goods exported through Tincan island Port for the year under review was One Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty-Six Metric Tonnes (N1,725,987.02MT) with a total Free On Board (FOB) value of One Hundred and Forty-One Billion, Nine Hundred and Eighty-Five Million, One Hundred and Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty-Nine Naira (N141,985,109,159.00).
While recalling that the 2021 fiscal year saw the outbreak of the Delta and Omicron variants of the COVID – 19 virus, he, however noted that the effective implementation of the World Customs Organisation Trade Recovery Guidelines assisted the command in restoring and maintaining operational activities which ensured continuity in the trade supply chain, trade facilitation and steady revenue generation.
According to him, the Recovery Guidelines included maintenance of Covid-19 protocols such as the use of face masks and safe distancing, compulsory vaccination of customs officers against the Covid-19 Virus, the effective use of the fast track facility and the installation of scanners to minimise human contact and expedite the customs release process especially for high priority consignments of essential medicaments and other lifesaving supplies.
He continued, “Additionally, existing and supplementary measures were put in place to enable the command to achieve its strategic goals, the TCIP management team devised and implemented strategies that enhanced and sustained the command’s ability to mitigate threats of non-compliance as well as the challenges of inadequate logistics and infrastructure at the ports.
“Hitherto, committed efforts were made to build on the gains of the operational activities of the previous years such as the compliance monitoring activities, deployment of NICIS II, One-Stop-Shop , Dispute Resolution Committee and stakeholder engagements which contributed in helping the command to meet its revenue target, facilitate legitimate trade and enforcement of fiscal/monetary policies of government in line with the Import Guidelines and Documentation Requirements and WCO SAFE Framework of Standards respectively.”
While maintaining that although efforts had been made by the Federal Government, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigeria Customs Service to mitigate the challenges of infrastructure and logistics through major repairs of the port access roads, a more organised exit and entry system for cargo trucks as well as the provision and installation of scanners at the ports respectively, he hoped that “these effort will be sustained to create a more user-friendly sea port that matches international standards and enables the facilitation of legitimate trade.”
Comptroller Musa averred that in spite of the above developments, the lack of government warehouses at close proximity to the port and the lassitude in application of extant customs laws guiding the treatment of overtime cargo by the terminal operators remained an area that needed dedicated attention.
“The timely transfer of overtime cargo from the mother port and some Bonded Terminals to the Government warehouses and the application of due process as provided by law will not only decongest the port of abandoned or overtime containers but will also improve the cargo throughput and ultimately increase revenue collection”, he added.
He, however, assured that in the coming year – FY2022 and with the approval and implementation of the e-Customs project and its content of digitisation of all customs processes and procedures, the command’s projection would include improved performance in the areas of revenue collection, facilitation of legitimate trade, enhance the capacity and skills of officers and men of the command as it continued to work in line with the CGC’s agenda to Reform, Restructure and Increase Revenue collection.
“The Command will continue to work in tandem with the extant guidelines for the actualisation of the mandate and the vision of the customs management.
“On this note, may I with a high sense of responsibility salute the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and his team for providing effective leadership and an enabling environment with the necessary operational tools for service delivery. We will not let our guard down. The Command will continue to develop strategies that will ensure that compliant operators are given the necessary support”, he concluded.
Photo: Comptroller Musa Baba Abdullahi, Customs Area Controller, Tincan Island Port command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
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