By Frank Odinukaeze.
As a result of the high valuation of nonstandard vehicles and increased costs of clearing, some importers have jettisoned the clearing of their vehicles as they feel the sales of such vehicles are no longer profitable.
The importers made the revelation at the Round Table discussion organised by the Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN), at its Secretariat in Apapa.
Mr Iyke Umelo, the secretary of the Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), said that the inability of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to input some brands of vehicles like Mercedes Benz, Toyota Corolla, BMW and Lexus had affected the clearing of vehicles from terminals.
According to him, this has forced some importers to abandon their vehicles because even when they clear such vehicles they cannot be sold because of the cost.
He added that the situation had also caused congestion in the ports.
“This problem has led to these brands of vehicles being automatically classified as nonstandard value,’’ he said.
Umelo noted that the problem freight agents are encountering was in the area of nonstandard VIN valuation which had generated a lot of controversy in terms of its high costs and corruptive tendencies.
He explained that from all indications, it appeared the NCS was systematically trying to discourage the importation of over aged vehicles.
Also, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of APFFLON PTML chapter, Mr Clinton Okoro said that VIN valuation was causing delay as well as in the payment of demurrage in the port.
He added that the NCS was not ready to go back to the drawing board to fine-tune the VIN valuation system, forcing everyone to lose revenue.
Mrs Jewel Igwe of the National Council for Managing Directors of Licensed Agents (NCMDLA) flayed the NCS for not working with the 15 years or 12 years vehicle age as recommended, saying that it had gone ahead to input 9 years into the system thereby causing a serious jerk up in the cost of clearing vehicles.
In her own contribution, Mrs Monije Onome of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Clearing Agents (ANCLA), decried the human interference associated with the nonstandard valuation which opens way for corruption.
She called on the NCS to make available a data base or chart from which agents could be able to know what they should pay as duty for any vehicle.
The stakeholders lamented the disparity in valuation between same vehicles from Asia and America, while same vehicle from America is valued low against the one from Asia that is valued higher.
While commending the NCS on standard VIN valuation, stakeholders advised that they should stick to seamless operation from nonstandard which according to them was replete with corruption.
“The non-standard Vin is another way to encourage corruption because freight forwarders are often encouraged to negotiate for a lower value as agents are forced to induce customs to reduce value”.
On the Vehicle Registration (V-Reg), Mrs Onome of ANCLA lamented the inability to identify the office of the V-REG in the state, stressing the problem agents encounter with the system and called for the elimination of bottlenecks associated with the V-Reg.
She called on the Federal Ministry of Finance to open a verifiable office in Lagos State for V-Reg and also include importers icon to make it easy for payment, as this would eliminate multiple payments before anyone is allowed to do VIN valuation.
