. We have not received any complain, says Customs
By Fredrick Wright
SOME aggrieved clearing agents operating at the Tin-Can Island Port, Lagos have called on the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ali, to intervene in activities of compliance team impeding trade facilitation at the Tin-Can Island command of the service.
The agents, in a chat with journalists said the compliance team, which was created in 2019, is the brainchild of the Customs Area Controller, Compt. Musa Baba Abdulahi to arrest infractions in duty payments by importers and clearing agents before they exit the seaport.
They accused the team of impeding trade facilitation by slamming Debit Note (DN) on already cleared cargoes and have also taken over the responsibility of Customs valuation unit.
A clearing agent, Chukwu Nwanne, bemoaned the activities of the compliance team, which he said is against trade facilitation as entrenched by the Customs boss.
He said, “When you obtain valuation, before your document gets to where you want to release, the team has already issued you a Debit Note (DN) wanting you to come and negotiate.
“The major challenge we have right now is that the compliance team which was established by the Area Controller is frustrating importers, they are not doing what they are created to do, what they ought to be doing is to pinpoint to the Controller on any infraction,” he alleged.
He stated further that, “the valuation department of Tin Can Island command has lost their relevance because whenever they issue value on cargoes it doesn’t hold water, the compliance team are now the one giving DN to clearing agents. This is duplication of duty.”
Another clearing agent, Ikechukwu Onyeka, urged the Customs headquarters to address the duplication of duties at the Tin-Can Island command of the service.
He alleged that the CAC compliance team was issuing DN indiscriminately and this is impeding trade facilitation and evacuation of cargoes from the seaports.
“The operation of the compliance team has been going on since last year. They have taken over the job of the valuation unit,” he concluded.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, TinCan Island Command, Uche Ejiesieme said the allegation is baseless, adding that the command has not received any complain of such.
He said the compliance team is saddled with the responsibility of providing oversight functions to all the other components of the unit to ensure checks and balances.
“If anybody feels aggrieved, he is expected to exploit the many platforms we created for complains and it will be addressed. I can tell you categorically that nobody has lodged any specific complain. If we get this, I can assure you that the issue will be not be swept under the carpet,” he said.
