29th June, 2015
Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service has commenced assessment of Customs duty and other charges on textile materials currently in detention in Kano.
The exercise being coordinated by a Special Task Force comprising operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission is expected to rake in N10billion revenue into government coffers.
The directive to collect duty on the textile products was given by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko Inde Abdullahi, following consultations with the Federal Government and importers of the items.
The imported items are currently discharged in warehouses sealed by the Nigeria Customs Service in various areas of Kano metropolis.
According to Wale Adeniyi, spokesperson for the Nigeria Customs Service, in the first warehouse opened for the exercise, 14 importers turned up for assessment and duty payment for their textile items valued at about N1.5billion in the first week .
He added that the importers were expected to pay a combined import duty of N373, 307, 242.16.
“The assessment also showed that the goods are liable to the following additional charges:N26,569,253.73 as 7% surcharge, N14,243,212.64 for 1% CISS levy N6,767,022.49 for 0.5% ETLS levy, N59,154,231.65 for Textile levy and N95,527,905.15 for Value Added Tax.
“Total revenue payable on the first set of assessment stands at N576,161,369.17 (five hundred and seventy-six million, one hundred and sixty -one thousand, three hundred and sixty-nine Naira, Seventeen kobo only.
“Another set of assessment worth over N600m is pending on the outstanding textiles in the same warehouse.
The assessed items include 20,878 bales of printed African fabrics, 21,980 bales of high grade brocade materials, 6,127 bales of Lace materials , 554 bales of polyester materials and 30 rolls of curtail materials,” Adeniyi added.
The Customs spokesperson also noted that the Comptroller-General of Customs’ decision to allow the importers of the detained goods pay duty is based on recent fiscal policy review removing textile fabrics from import prohibition list . The move, he noted is also expected to shore up Government revenue, which has witnessed a downturn in recent times.
Last month, 75 warehouses of assorted textile materials were sealed up in Kano by Customs anti-smuggling operatives , following months of undercover operations and activation of local and international intelligence networks.
The warehouses were operated by foreign nationals using a handful of Nigerians as their guarantors.
In view of the organized nature of the smuggling syndicate, the Comptroller-General of Customs has called for closer inter Agency collaboration to curb the excesses of foreign economic saboteurs who he noted are breaking Nigeria laws with impunity.