Ban On Land Border Vehicle Imports Policy Set To Fall Apart

There are indications that importers of used and new vehicles are not ready to make use of the seaports. These signals prtend that a failure of the new vehicle import policy looms. Maritime stakeholders are claiming that the new policy banning importation of vehicles through land boarders was against international trade laws.

Recall that the Federal Government had in December banned importation of both used and new vehicles through the land borders restricting importation of vehicles to the seaports alone. The ban took effect from January 01, 2017.

Clearing agents operating at the nation’s foremost and largest vehicle import sea port terminal located at Tin Can Island port, said activities are yet to pick up at the seaport.
The Public Relations Officer of the PTML chapter of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Ayo Sulaiman, who spoke to Vanguard on the development said the rush expected to spring up at the seaport might be a mirage due to high rate of the import duty on imported vehicles at the seaports.
Imported vehicles at the seaports
He pointed out that apart from the fact that the import duty payable on vehicles are not uniform, the rate is rather too exorbitant. “Why people are running from the seaports is because seaports won’t give the same duty. For instance, Tin Can Customs will give lesser duty and Grimaldi will give a different duty on the same vehicle, with the same model and year of manufacture but at the land border, the duty is the same.”
Ayo called for reduction of import duty on used and new vehicles adding that the reduction would bring back importers to the seaports. When asked how vehicles have been coming into the country since land borders are blocked and activities are not yet booming at the seaport, he said, “You can’t rule out smuggling because all the bush paths that entered into the country cannot be manned by Customs. To stop vehicles from coming into the country through unapproved routs is not possible.”
On his own part, the immediate past public relations officer of PTML ANLCA, Ganny Adeola, said the policy will work only if the government reduces import duty on imported vehicles.
He said, “Vehicles are not coming into the seaports and there is no hope they will come because of the high Customs tariff. In the first place, what chased our importers away to neighbouring countries is government bad policy and the bad policy was increment in Customs Duty of 35 per cent on Tokunbo and 70 per cent duty and levy on new vehicles.
Ban is against international law – Stakeholders
Meanwhile the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, NCMDLCA, has said that the ban of vehicles through land borders was against the international trade laws.
In a petition to the Presidency, the Council said that the laws of the World Trade Organization stipulates that trade regulations and amendments with regards to restriction and reversal of Fiscal Policy on Trade, must be subject to process of consultation by trading public and transparency in the timing, so as to accommodate the challenges that will be associated with the directive/regulation.
The convention, according to the Council, also stipulates that each contracting party shall provide opportunities and an appropriate time period to traders and other interested parties to comment on the proposed introduction or amendment of laws and regulations of general application related to the movement, release, and restriction of transit goods.
The petition dated January 12, 2017 which was signed by the association’s president, Mr. Lucky Amiwero, said that the restriction of vehicles through the land border came at a very short notice, which contravenes the convention and global best practices on reasonable information across the international community, carrier, and shippers, traders etc. that are directly affected by the decision.
The petitioners explained that vehicles held up at the border are mostly legitimate goods that are legally processed from the land borders as authorized by the Federal Government under the Federal Government Import regime, which import duty is assessed and paid into Federal Government Account legally.