Business

Low govt revenue: Freight forwarders finger Customs

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

In from Ali Smart . . .
Freight forwarders are at logger heads with customs officials over what they described as prohibitive taxes, which they argued have been a disincentive to business.

They also stated, that the Customs mismanaged the ports, and other entry point, and are largely to blame for government’s low revenue, as “The revenue leakage is more than the revenue collected for the government”.

Speaking at the weekend, the chairman of National Association of Government Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Murtala Muhammed Airport Ikeja, Segun Musa said the Nigerian Customs Service are to blame largely for the poor fortunes recorded at the land, air and sea ports across the country, no thanks to prohibitive tariffs.

Musa said a review of the existing import tariff has become imperative to sustain many indigenous businesses in cargo clearance, freight forwarding and supply chain.

According to him, by the time importers relocate to other West African countries to pay import duties, there will be significant loss of revenue to Nigerian government and her agencies .

Such a move he said will make both land, sea and airports redundant for players in the freight forwarding chain.

“Customs officers mismanaged the ports, they have not brought to the table any meaningful policy that will actually drive the industry,” he said.

“The revenue leakage is more than the revenue collected for the government of Nigeria. The tariff on imports are so high and that it has taken a lot of business out Nigeria.”
He explained that freight forwarders will soon go into a regime of external tariff where every importer is at liberty to import goods and pay tariff anywhere in the world and go to the border to clear their goods without paying to customs.

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