By Andrew Airahuobhor
The Nigeria Customs Service said it has collected N950.1billion as revenue into the federation account between January and November 2014. With this, the Service inches towards its N1.2 trillion revenue target for the year. The figure increased by 23.4 per cent over the N769.3 billion garnered last year.
Customs Area Controller, Apapa Area one Command, Comptroller Charles Edike disclosed the figure during the inauguration of new Executive Council of the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN).
He added that the Service has also saved the country N36. 9 billion representing the 1 percent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) charges on import hitherto paid to service providers since it took over the Destination Inspection Scheme in December last year.
On the effect of the Pre Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) on Nigeria’s economy, Edike said the Service was able to overcome the initial challenges as it has so far received 201,330 requests for PAAR out of which 188,424 were finally released and 108,169 uplifted with a total Cost Insurance and Freight (CIF) of N5.6 trillion.
He said the new clearance procedure has not only increased the revenue profile of the Service, it has also helped in reducing cost and time of clearance of goods at the port, thus facilitating trade.
He, however, noted that the biggest challenge of the new clearance procedure is lack of compliance to trade regulations by importers as a total of 14, 259 PAAR have so far been rejected.
The Customs boss said that the Service has gained the recognition of the World Customs Organization as a result of the successes recorded by the Service since the introduction of PAAR.
Source : Independent