FG tasked to encourage Freight Forwarders with Percentage of Customs Revenue

Stakeholders in the maritme industry has called on the Federal Government to give certain percentage of it's projected collection of Customs Revenue to customs brokers.

This position was made known by Mr Iju Anthony Nwabunike, Chairman, Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria(CRFFN) at the 2023 Conference and Awards Ceremony organized by the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) in Apapa, Lagos.

Nwabunike said that “For 2024, the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service recently said the service aims to collect N6Trillion for government.

He noted that Customs brokers is likely to aid collection of about 4trillion naira out of the projected collection and suggested that,“Giving them a percentage will solidify their stake and would enhance their productivity as their benefits would be dependent on what they made for the government”

While speaking on the topic ‘The Role of the Customs Brokers in Sustaining a Viable Trans Border Trade for National Economic Growth’,Nwabunike also noted that it will be a win-win for government and the brokers as more revenue would be collected. It will also reduce the stress of deploying risk management tools like post clearance audits, alerts and demand notices (DN) to prevent revenue loss”.

The President AMJON, Paul Ogbuokiri while delivering his welcome address said poor state of the Country’s mono-cultural economy needs urgent attention of the Federal Government to pilot the country away from its crisis state.

"We have never seemed to bother ourselves with the fact that our Balance of Trade year in year out has been unfavorable to us.

“Now the shock has become permanent because our crude oil has become encumbered, a large portion of it now goes into payment of debts acquired and squandered by politicians, while the other portion is being stolen by powerful people; we are therefore left with little or no foreign exchange to finance our necessary and unnecessary imports.

“We are aware that our president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu since he assumed office has never rested on his oars to find a solution to our economic quagmire, he has used the opportunity of every foreign trip he has attended so far to canvas for foreign investment in Nigeria. But, while we are waiting for all those presidential engagements to start bearing fruits, AMJON is of the opinion that this an auspicious time for us as a nation to sincerely look inwards and commence full domestic production for our consumption as it was in the 70s and 80s. The excess, we should sell to other countries for our forex needs.

“As we strongly believe that trade in non-oil exports holds the key to Nigeria’s economic survival, particularly with regard to intra-African trade. With platforms like Economic Community of West Africa States-ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS), African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the recent deal between the Customs Administrations of Nigeria and Benin Republic. We believe that discussions should center on trans-border trade between our country and its neighbours with the view to identifying any encumbrance that could hamper trade now or in the future, he concluded.