Following the World Bank ranking that initially placed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at 183 out of the 189 countries in the world and the recent one that placed the service at 110 out of 167 countries of the world against the various indices that have to do with trade across the borders, the Service has taken steps to upscale the ranking with the Time Release Study (TRS) as approved by the World Customs Organization.
The Secretary of the Time Release Study Work Group, Deputy Comptroller of Customs Anthony Ayalogu who made this disclosure at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos yesterday said that Nigeria, following the outcome of the ranking was looking at the Time Release Study in order to compare notes with the World Bank to see if Nigeria was actually at the place it had been ranked.
According to him,”We are also doing this in order to actually look at ourselves, ask ourselves various questions and say, are we actually where we were ranked? Is there anything we can do to make us better? Is there anything we could put in place or tell the government to do in order to elevate us from this place that we are?”
Ayalogu revealed that Nigeria had sent a strong delegation in response to the rating to Washington DC, the Headquarters of World Bank to present certain cases that had to do with types and forms in Nigeria adding that the World Bank was also looking at the research to know what actually was on ground hence the reason they had made the Time Release for 2018 one of the most robust Time Release Study that had happened.
“This study is very important at the stage where we are carrying out different reforms in the Nigeria Customs Service. You will know that the Nigeria Customs Service has just put in place the NICIS II platform which has come to replace the NICIS I and again, it is also coming at a time when we are reviewing the port procedures in order to admit Nigeria into a better placing in the World Bank ranking. You all know that the ratings of Nigeria especially when it comes to trade across the border have been very poor. Nigeria has been placed 183 out of 189 countries in the world. Just recently, there was another report placing Nigeria at 110 out of 119 countries against the various indices that have to do with trade across the borders.
“But we know one thing, we cannot do it all alone, we should also inform the stakeholders in the trade across the borders that such a thing is happening. You should know, you should be able to ask us questions, you should be able to give us your input even though we cannot bring all of you into the Time Release Study but we still appreciate your contribution to the Time Release Study to make sure that what we study is robust, is encompassing and it reflects the true situation of what is on the ground.
“In line with the dictates of WCO, there is no cheating in the Time Release Study because we need to show that what we have done is actually what is on the ground and that is why it is important at this stage, at the advice of WCO that we talk with you and tell you what we are doing and tell you what we feel about it. Whatever input and suggestions you have given today shall be taken down and we shall actually reflect it in this research”, he said.
Giving detail of the study, the Customs DC informed that “The Time Release Study is a Study that looks into the time it takes to process import into any country through the customs process. The WCO is very particular about facilitation of trade and so, Time Release Study was adopted in 1990 for different customs in the world to look at their processes, time these procedures and see whether there are bottlenecks and then where they could also do some changes”.
He continued,” It started with few countries in 1990, we started ours in 2006, we have carried out Time Release Study in the Nigeria Customs under the auspices of World Customs Organization and this Time Release Study has led to many changes in the procedures in the customs. You all know about the almighty Long Room that was changed to CPC. It was as result of recommendation from the World Customs Organization on the Time Release Study that was conducted in Nigeria. This will be the first Time Release Study that was conducted in Nigeria but this particular one is more encompassing than it was before.
“Before now, it was customs alone that carried out this Time Release Study but this Time Release Study we are carrying out now has gone beyond customs, we have people from different agencies, we have representations from the organized clearing agencies. We have NPA, NAFDAC, SON, NESREA, NDLEA, Plant Quarantine; they are all working with us. All those who are involved in the procedure and workflow as processes to release goods from the port and again, these people have been drawn and we have people from different departments of the customs, they also work together to make this a success.
“For this year and for this Time Release Study, we have chosen Apapa as a case study and more particularly, we have chosen APMT as the terminal to study. And what do we do in this study? All we do is to try as much as possible to locate the point that is very necessary in this study. This is done by us but under the supervision of WCO. We have chosen various fields, we have decided to know the time between when ship reports to NPA, when they berth, when they are discharged, when SGDs are registered, when payments are done, when application for examination is made, when customs make this request to the terminal operators, when terminal operators place the containers for examination, when this examination is done, when these containers are referred to other government agencies like SON, NAFDAC, NERSEA, Plant Quarantine and NDLEA and also when these containers leave the port”.
Also speaking, the Coordinator of Time Release Study in Nigeria, Comptroller Wale Adeniyi observed that they had done a process mapping for them to know the stakeholders that were involved in the study saying that it was not just customs alone but importers, the banks, shipping companies, terminal operators, customs agents and indeed agencies of government were all involved as well as so many stakeholders along the line who had to work together.
“So, together we form a working group and according to the recommendation of WCO, we need to train the working group so that they will know the scope of their assignment. The working group will design, implement, analyze and do everything about the TRS. So, it is important that we give them the right training. After the training, they came on a field visit and after the visit, when we now know the scope of our work, we have to come up with a work plan, the work plan will specify what will be done within a particular period, the agencies that will be responsible for it, the time line, how to know whether we are working according to time or not. After that, we design the questionnaire; we are at that stage now.
“And after designing the questionnaire, we felt that it was important that we talk to the stakeholders and of course our stakeholders in the press so that they will be able to assist us in the line of going through that. Of course, when we have designed and we have tested it, when we have administered the questionnaires, we will get all the data from the questionnaires, we will analyze and then we will publish the result”, he explained.
He added that the WCO recommended a period of five to six months for the study informing that the project started in July this year and is expected to end by November this year.
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