Maritime B6
Daily Times Nigeria Friday, April 7 , 2017
Customs list conditions for seized goods auction The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has revealed that only taxpayers with Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) issued Tax Identification Number (TIN) will be eligible to participate in the auction of some of the seized items at its commands across the country. This is even as the Public Relations Officer of the service, Joseph Attah disclosed that the service will deploy the use of electronic platform to conduct it auctions as part of measures to ensure transparency in the sale of seized goods. According to him “we are going to start this process very soon. The portal has been developed and it is undergoing user acceptability test. So that is why we have started talking about it now to create awareness and sensitization. If you wait until the day they deploy it and you announce it people will not know that they are suppose to get their Tax Identification Number (TIN) number ready. “So anybody who is interested should go to Federal Inland Revenue and get your their TIN number ready because any moment from now, we will start,” he said. Part of the guidelines contained in the new e-auction portal requires applicants to input recent passport photo with a payment of non-refundable administrative fee of N1, 000. Aside TIN number by prospective bidders, other terms and conditions includes exclusion of customs officers and their families from participating in the bidding process either directly or by proxy. The guidelines also indicate that auctioned items cannot be replaced or funds paid refunded to bidders. Successful bidders are expected to make payments within five working days as auctioned items whose winners fail to pay within the period forfeit the auctioned item to the second highest bidder while a grace period of 14 days from the date of payment is given for successful bidders to remove the item bided for or forfeit it at expiration of the period. Recall that NCS suspended the auction of seized goods two years ago but was forced to reconsider its stance after the House of Representatives di-
L-R: Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Dr. Sokonte Davies, 2nd from left, 3rd from left, Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir eL Rufai and Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Ms Hadeeza Bala Usman 4th from left and other members of management during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the agency by Gov El Rufai… recently
National Single Window gets kick-off date Stories by Babajide Okeowo Several years after Ghana and Republic Benin commenced the use of the Single Window (SW) platform at their seaports, there are indications that the platform will kick off in Nigeria in the second quarter of 2017 if the words of the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col Hameed Ali (rtd) is anything to go by. This is even as the Managing Director, Nigerian Port Authority, (NPA) Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman also dropped hints that NPA and Customs were collaborating
to actualize the single window project in the nation’s seaports within the next three months. According to Ali, the adoption of single window would make Nigerian ports more competitive and create avenue for ease of doing business at the ports. “The issue of single window has already been imbibed by the federal government. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is planning a committee that is working towards the establishment of single window. “That I believe will come to fruition not too long from now. Hopefully in the second or third quarter of this year we should
be able to have single window in place in Nigeria. If that is done, then we would have created a broad band for all of us to key into and create that avenue for ease of doing business,” he said On her part, Usman disclosed that the operational framework and business plan for setting up the single window platform has already been concluded. “One of the things we have discussed at our initial tour and that are being addressed is the need for the national single window. We have made significant progress on that. We are working with Customs and we have concluded on the business plan
and the operational framework of setting up the national single window. “So we hope within the next three months, we will have the conclusion on retaining a vendor that would implement it for Nigerian ports, Customs and indeed all other agencies operating in the port,” she said. The national single window was originally developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It was developed in 2005 as part of the moves to “simplify, harmonise and standardise international trade procedures”, as well as associated information on trade.
Ban on vehicle importation through land borders yielding fruits – Stakeholders The recent ban on importation of vehicles through the land borders by the Federal Government of Nigeria is beginning to yield the desired results as more vehicles are now being cleared from the seaports. This is according to Ugochukwu Nnadi, Deputy National President, Transport Logistics, National Association of Government Approved Freight
Forwarders (NAGAFF). “The ban is working perfectly. I have been to different ports and I can assure you that more vehicles are now been cleared from the seaports and that is what our industry need which will enable growth and generate more revenue for the country. If the ban had not been implemented, I am sure hundreds of vehicles would
have been smuggled into the country which in turn destroys our economy” he said. On his part, Frank Aliakor of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (Apapa Chapter) opined that the ban is working as it has curbed the smuggling of vehicles into the country. “It is working. The ban has
Excise to investigate the failure of NCS to auction confiscated goods. DAILY SHIPPING POSITION: VESSELS EXPECTED AT LAGOS PILOTAGE DISTRICT SHIP MSK CUBANGO SAFMARINE NILE BO RESOLUTE INTER UTILITY DIOMIDIS NORTHPOWER MSK CABOVERDE KOTA SURIA MOL DELIGHT FORTUNE BIRD
AGENT MSK NIG MSK NIG C.C. NIG OCN GLORY PLATINUM MSK NIG MSK NIG PIL MOL NOG BLUESTAR
PORT APMT APMT APMT ENL GDNL APMT APMT APMT APMT GDNL
TONNAGE 268FCL 211FCL 310FCL 35000MT 48650MT 381FCL 200FCL 461FCL 300FCL 28688MT
E.T.A LENGHT 5/04/17 249.12M 5/04/17 211M 5/04/17 231M 7/04/17 180M 7/04/17 199M 7/04/17 265M 8/04/17 249.12M 8/04/17 228M 10/04/17 261M 11/04/17 190M
CARGO CONTAINER CONTAINER CONTAINER B/CORN B/GYPSUM CONTAINER EMPTY CONTAINER CONTAINER CONTAINER B/WHEAT
curbed the smuggling of vehicles, especially through land borders into the country. With this intervention, I feel the government is doing a lot to generate revenue by ensuring that importation of vehicles comes through the seaports. “We have been enriching the neighboring countries all this while but that has to stop which is the reason for the ban in the first place. As a result of this, other countries have been affected drastically. I think all the importation coming into the country should be from the seaports and not through the land borders because they are too porous” he added. Similarly, David Pius, former Public Relations Officer of a Maritime activists group, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNIFFIEC) said the development is working properly and is the right step in the right direction.