As part of effort to resolve the lingering crisis that trailed the introduction of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) valuation system in Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Tuesday convened a crucial stakeholders meeting in Lagos.
The meeting was well attended by representatives of freight forwarders, NCS, journalists and other interest groups, who made input on the way out of the VIN valuation imbroglio which has disruption normal operations in Tincan Island port and PTML for days together.
Three Assistant Comptroller General of Customs including ACG Tariff and Trade, Hamza Gumi, ACG ICT and modernisation, Saidu Galadima and ACG Zine A Headquarters, Modupe Aremu, presided over the meeting.
At the end of the crucial meeting, Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Aremu, told journalists that the NCS is inclined to modifying the system to accommodate the complaints and observations of the freight forwarders in arriving at a new computation for the VIN.
For her part, Zonal Coordinator of NCS in Zone A, Mrs Aremu, who represented the Comptroller General of Customs at the meeting said the NCS management will meet Wednesday (today) to review the complaints and inputs of the stakeholders.
“Management will to look into complaints by licensed customs agents and freight forwarders over newly introduced Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) valuation that has resulted in a strike action across ports in Lagos.” She said.
Aremu noted that Customs will arrive at a win-win solution on the matter as customs and it’s licensed agents were members of one large family.
In her word: “We are going to modify their complaints going forward. The modification will take care of the complaints of the clearing agents as regards VIN.
“We also talked and rubbed minds on a solution to this ongoing strike at the ports. The agents were actually trained ahead of the implementation of the VIN valuation. That was why we were not expecting this kind of response from them when we began the implementation.
“Due to the complaints the agents gave today, we are going back to the drawing board to modify all the issues that they raised. Hopefully, very soon we will get back to them on the outcome of the modification. VIN has come to stay, it cannot be suspended.”
“We are meeting on this matter tomorrow and I’m sure we will come up with a solution that will be a win-win for Customs and freight agents. The agents were actually trained ahead of the implementation of the VIN valuation. That was why we were not expecting this kind of response from them when we began the VIN implementation,” ACG Aremu said.”
In his contribution, Assistant Comptroller General in Charge of ICT and Modernisation, Aliyu Galadima Saidu, said NCS will endeavour to bring training closer to the customs agents to improve their proficiency on the job, noting that the centralized trainings organized by Customs headquarters recently limited the participation and impact of the programme.
Saidu disclosed that some persons were recently found to have changed the VIN data of their imported used vehicles to process the vehicles as non standard VIN to evade complete duty payment, noting that trade in an ICT driven era requires sincerity and integrity.
“Some persons were found to change VIN figures of their imported used vehicles so as to be processed as non standard VIN to evade complete duty payments,” he said.
For his part, chieftain of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Taiye Oyeniyi, condemned the prohibitive cost of vehicle clearance wuth the new VIN Valuation and urged the management of the NCS to consider suspending implementation of VIN valuation regime until an ideal process is worked out to properly capture duties for the used vehicles.
He also appealed to the striking agents to suspend their industrial action to allow the NCS management team at the meeting take their complaints to Abuja for consideration.
Oyeniyi noted that the protests on VIN valuation followed the high input figures in the new e-system which saw Customs duties of some vehicles rose higher that the cost price and freight of the vehicles.
Also speaking, a former President of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Eugene Nweke, accused Customs of implementing the new system without advance notice for stakeholders to prepare for the new system.
The VIN valuation regime, which seeks to bring uniformity in duty valuation of imported vehicles, uses artificial intelligence based on data supplied by the trader and other parties, to evaluate and decide on the amount of duty to be paid, without human interference.
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