– Nwokeoji lambast Committee Chairman for lying about Customs Agents Making N20billion
– Wants Customs to review Over 2000% increase in Customs license, bonds fees
The ongoing face – off between the management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) over the upward review of License fees renewal from N215,000 to N4m and new one from N515,000 to N10m ,as well as other increases in boded warehouses and bond fees for over 2000% has been generating friction in the freight forwarding industry in the last three weeks.
Despite several meetings and consultations with freight forwarding associations, Customs licence Agents and bonded Warehouses owners , it seems the NCS is bent on implementing the new price hike.
Justifying the new fees, the NCS has said that is over a decade such increment was effected and that the current fees does not reflect the financial obligations of the current economic realities.
Adding his support to the new fees hike, House Committee Chairman on Customs and Excise in the Nigerian House of Representatives, Hon. Leke Abejide supported the new fees increment while appearing on a Channel Television program, claiming that Clearing Agents can pay the new fees as according to him they make N10bn to N20bn in their cleaning and forwarding businesses.
Reacting to this claims ,the National President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Kingsley Emenike Nwokeoji appearing on Channels TV on Monday disagreed with Hon. Leke Abejide’s claims that Clearing Agents makes such amount, while appealing to the NCS to bring down the fees .
Our Roam Media Correspondent who monitored the interview reports the conversation thus:
Channels TV : The House Committee Chairman on Customs and Excise was here to justify the new fees increment saying Clearing Agents make N10bn to N20bn , what is your take on this ?
ANLCA President: You know, he owns the company. For him to make such a comment on a job that ordinarily in every other client is meant for the indigene and for the nationals of that place, I mean, it’s really unfortunate.
So, I’m not here to join issues with my member, that is not what our constitution says. Am only here to maybe correct as much as possible within the time available, the misconceptions or things he didn’t say right, knowing that he’s more busy now in making laws than clearing goods.
Channels TV: So, speak to us about the misconceptions?. He has said that this is done to basically make sure that this sector meets international standards, to clean up the sector and ensure that only people who are able to afford the infrastructure are there. And that will ensure that we have a smooth process. So, what are the misconceptions? What growls do you have with this proposal in that sense?
ANLCA President: Yeah, the proposal, I will not say much on it, because I was part of the meeting with the Comptroller General of Customs in Abuja. And where the proposal was made and shared to us, we were asked to go back, meet with our members and come back with our common position. Our members in the North have met, they have submitted their position to the National Secretariat.
Members in the East have met. And we met the same day that this comment was coming on Thursday. We met at Rockview Hotel in Apapa,
the hall was filled up to the brim. Which we set up a committee there and then to harmonise as we wait for the CGC, that’s the Comptroller General of Customs to invite us back again. So that we will sit together, we can look at our views and come up with a position.
But for a member to say that agents handle jobs of N10 billion to N20 billion, how much is the licence of an importer who owns the cargo? Are we just operating without reference to what is happening in other places? WCO, for which, by God’s grace, the Comptroller General presently is the Chairman of the Council, there are stipulated means and ways of licencing practising Customs brokers all over the world. So I know that the House committee Chairman on Customs and Excise was invited to ask his view. Though, that day I was expecting him to say that his view was an act of parliament or his personal view or the view of his committee. But he didn’t say much about that.
His entitled to his opinion, I think he got so many things wrong.
Channels TV: So let’s talk about the concerns you’re raising. In specific, like my colleague has put it to you as he did on that day stating clearly that this amount is infinitesimal or not significant given the volume that comes through agents.? So if you were to, so I wanna go back to, I try to quickly get back to the numbers and what you have as perhaps a grouse with that proposal because the Guardian rather did a great job in playing with the numbers. So let’s begin with the ones that has to do with the bonded warehouses. So they said bond for bonded warehouses, from N50 million to N500 million, bonded warehouses renewal from N60,000 to 10 million, bonded warehouses, fresh licence from N60,000 to N20 million. Let’s start with the bonded warehouses, because the argument was to the effect that there was an idea because of congestion and all of that where bonded houses and these terminals were done, but it’s not as effective as it is. So this is like, if you’re not ready to go, go home scenario. So if you were to give the counter proposal for balance, for fairness, for sustainability of the sub-sector, what will they be based on this number I’ve reeled out?
ANLCA President: Well, I am here to represent the licence Customs Agents and of course, majority of the bonded terminal owners are our members. I think I would prefer to reorder this interview by starting with licence because charity begins at home.
Channels TV: Okay, with license customs agents for the benefit of our audience, my apologies. So let me go back. So Clearing Agents license renewal fee from N215,000 to N4 million and new license from N515,000 to N10m. So I just need the audience to be familiar with the data.
ANLCA President: Thank you.
Well, as I speak now, I will say that you still can’t because a lot needs to be talked about. Being in the first place for obtaining new licence is 2,000% , you can work it out. From N515,000 to N10 million is 2,000% increase . I mean, it’s laughable. And then when you talk about renewal, N215,000 moving it to N4 million, that is another 1,850%.
And then you can talk about bond, bond is over 5,700%. And when we talk about bond in the current banking procedure, for bank to grant you a bond, you must have such an amount in your account. The only favour they can do for you is maybe you put it in an interest yielding account.
So it means that everybody must deposit this amount of money. Then how much is our working capital? And what is the job of an agent in the first place ? We only represent a principal. The importer gives you a job and pays you a minimal practicing fee. The importer establishes Form M. The importer processes his PAAR . The importer initiated the importation without you.
He only gives you paid duty and give you a document, go and process it with customs and bring back my cargo. Why are we being now looked up as somebody saying that we are doing N10 billion? How much is the licence of people who lifting crude oil? How much is a vessel of crude oil? We are only agents representing a principal. We don’t own the cargo.
In most cases, we the agent can’t see the cargo until the customs people are there to break the seal of the container . So where is this money coming from? The fact that a bullion van carrying delivered $2 billion from Mapa to Port Harcourt , does it mean you are going to pay percentage to the driver? The driver is entitled to his salary. So that proposal is a doubt. We play a major role in the economy, just like other representative of customs all over the world in the economy of their countries.
I would share this with you. At the point when Federal government felt that the Customs were undercutting Federal government in terms of duty, they came up with this idea that no matter the amount you collect, it will give Customs 7% of it. So let’s see if you are under charging import duty, you know that you are losing the benefit. Why can’t they try that with the clearing agents? Make sure that every declarer gets a percentage of duty paid. In that case, we know that we are really customs representative. If the importer asks you to do something that will make Federal government to lose revenue, you will quietly tell him that it’s not possible, because you know your agency is protected somewhere.
Then we are just hanging. The importer comes up, the customs people see us as an enemy, Federal government now through some agencies or through some vaccines are looking at us as people that are handling massive business. Then we should pay billions. So can they compare, like in the meeting, we made a reference to Doctors, whose licence human beings are in their hands.We made reference to Engineers, that their construction can collapse a building . We made reference to and then all these things, how much do they use in renewing their licence?.
Channels TV: So they have a proposal.What is your counter proposal? Are you saying they should remain where they are? And I’m talking for clearing agents and agencies renewal, should it remain at N215,000 and the fresh licence should remain at N515,000 instead of N10 million. Are you saying they should remain or they can be an increase, but it shouldn’t be more than maybe 300%, 200% or what? What is your proposal? Your counter proposal now?
ANLCA President: Yes, with due respect, I will not share our proposal with you. We held a meeting with the Comptroller General. We only owe it as a duty to return back with the views of our members. It’s not something that we put on television first. Let’s discuss with him, the gentleman he is. I believe by now he must have reviewed the whole thing because earlier in the meeting when the proposal was made, he made us to understand that he was seeing it for the first time and he asked us to go and look at it and come up with a position. When that is done, if we are unable to reach a common ground, we will come back.
Channels TV :There you go. You have 30 seconds, please.
We’re totally out of time, but I want you to speak to the effect of this on prices, on the economy at large. If you can do that in 30 seconds, so we have a clear-
ANLCA President: I will do that very quickly. The Honourable member made a very wrong assertion that even the 4% FOB to be paid by importers will not affect prices. That is not correct. Right now, we think prices of drugs all over the country is so high. People are dying because they can’t even afford their medical bills. What the 4% FOB means is that every cargo coming into this country, be it donation, whatever it is, so long as there is a value put to it, must pay 4% FOB. Before now, the economy, of course. We operate a 5% tariff regime. Zero duty for essential goods , 5% for raw material, 10% for semi-finished products, 20% for finished products, and 35% for luxury goods. What it means now is all the essentials are duty-free,but they will pay this 4% FOB.
So it’s no more free. Medicaments, some of them are duty-free. It means they must pay this 4%, because it’s worked out from the effort.
So if you permit me, this is not an issue of 15-minute discussion. We need to tell Nigerians that a whole lot needs to be done in this sector. Everything should not be about revenue.We should think about the common man on the street. Yes, maybe people like us or some Nigerians, pardon me, they can afford to pay this. How can the Honourable suggest that people should go to one man who have a licence, other people will come to him, when they get a job. People can’t even get a license?, I know the number of people that come to me to assist them as the national president to renew their license. And then he made such a statement, Why get a license when you don’t have a job?. Do you need to go and get a job before you go to school? It’s with your certificate that you apply to be employed. People who have licences, it’s certain that you need to apply for jobs. That they are not able to do something today, What about tomorrow? Will you give up your job to a man that is not licenced? Do you have the licence to qualify people (now in search of jobs?) Because there is unemployment everywhere.?
Channels TV: So, Nwokeoji, I just wanted to lay those issues bare. In fact, we overshot our time, but because of the importance of this conversation. So you’ve spoken to the impact that this may have and we’re glad that the conversation is still ongoing.And this is something, of course, we’ll be following up on to see how it plays because we all know how important the ports is to our economy. Anything happens there, it affects prices. And people are still talking about how much it is to clear vehicles and goods and the rest.And we know what impact that is having on the economy. End.
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