The Tin can Island port command of the Nigeria Customs Service says it recorded a revenue generation of over N274.3 billion between January and June this year, representing a 27.50 percent increase from N229.3 billion collected in the corresponding period of 2021.
Controller of the command, Comptroller Adekunle Oloyede who disclosed this while briefing journalists on the performance report of the command in Lagos on Friday said export through the Tin Can Island port also rose by 73 percent to 138,246.50 metric tons in the first half of the year.
According to him, the export cargo had over N100.45 billion in free on board (FOB), representing a 60 percent increase from N66.29 billion recorded on the 100,500 metric tons of export cargo throughput in the same period of 2021.
Comptroller Oloyede commended the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for creating a seamless collaboration that facilitated the clearance of export cargo at the Tin-Can Island Port command.
On enforcement and anti-smuggling activities, Oloyede said the command made various seizures and detentions with a Duty Paid Value of over N1.3billion.
Given a breakdown of the seizures, he said they include 145kg of Colorado Indian Hemp concealed in two units of Ridgeline trucks and two units of Toyota Corolla vehicles; 206,000 pieces of machetes; 640 bales of used clothes; 236,500 pieces of used shoes; 62,500 pieces of new lady’s shoes; 1,670,400 pieces of chloroquine injections; 1,814,400 pieces of Novalgen injection; 48,850 rolls of cigarettes and 23,800 tins of sodium bromate and baking powder.
Others are 3,303 pieces of motor batteries found in three containers falsely declared as three units of used Toyota Hiace buses; four units of used Mack truck heads; one unit of used Toyota Sequoia 2008 model; one unit of used Mercedes Benz GL450 2008 model, and one unit of used 2011 Toyota 4 Runner.
The Customs boss explained that the seized and detained items contravened sections 46, 47 and 161 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP 45 of 2004.
He disclosed that the command had handed over one suspect, one pistol gun, two empty magazines, and 300 rounds of live ammunition to the DSS for further action.
According to him, the seizures were made possible by the interventions of the Customs Intelligence Unit, the valuation unit, Customs Strike Force, and other regulatory agencies including the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), DSS, NAFDAC and Nigeria Police among others.
On trade facilitation, Oloyede said the command has created a dispute settlement structure that aligns with the provisions of the import duty mechanism, which allows an importer to take delivery of his consignment in the case of persistent dispute after securing a bank bond worth the total duties and taxes payable on the item being disputed.
Speaking on implementation of the VIN valuation policy at the command, Oloyede said the command had overcome the challenges experienced at the early stage of the deployment of the policy through continuous engagement and consultation of relevant stakeholders.
He added that the command has also strengthened its risk management structure to mitigate constant attempts by some non-compliant agents to abuse the process through falsification of documents and forgery of signatures.
“So far, the VIN valuation has helped the command achieve an expedited clearance process due to predictability of value assessment, increase in revenue generation, improved ease of doing business, generation of accurate statistics for government and a host of others,” he said.
