PSI
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Customs Service Sets to Implement New Policy On Vehicle Importation- August 2002
Nigeria bans meat shipments from Benin - 31/7/02
Intertek Services Limited issue refunds - July 2002
Nigeria - Ruling on 5 year old vehicles - June 2002
Nigerian Destination Inspection - June 2002
Nigerian Customs procedures on drugs - 16th May 2002
2002 Budget Policy Measures and Tariff Amendments - April 2002
Licence fee for new customs - April 2002
Import/Export changes outlined in the Nigerian Budget 2002 - April 2002
Changes to Nigerian Pre-Shipment Inspection procedures - Form M - March 2002

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Customs Service Sets to Implement New Policy On Vehicle Importation - 20/08/02

Nigerian Customs Service have begun seizure of fairly used vehicles otherwise known as 'tokunbo' as its deadline and grace period for the importation of those vehicles expired last weekend. There was a rush by importers to beat the deadline as a total of 26,000 vehicles above five years were released by the Tincan Island NCS port command. Importers and clearing agents were still making last efforts to beat the deadline.

Records of vehicles released during the grace period showed 5,938 vehicles were released from the ro-ro terminal whilst 5,083 vehicles were released from the Ashaye terminal. The Satellite car park recorded the highest number of 6,110 vehicles while the satellite car parks (II) and (III), recorded 3,137 and 2,065 vehicles released respectively.

According to the public relations officer, Alhaji Usman Bello every thing possible was done to ensure clearance. He explained that vehicles trapped in the port are either overtime or vehicles that were imported after Government gave the directive of the grace period adding that the number of such vehicles could not be ascertained immediately. He however warned importers and agents to desist from attempting to use fake documents to clear vehicles as any body caught will be dealt with accordingly. Bello also reminded importers that the idea of the grace period was to allow for clearance of vehicles that were imported before the directive and not for the importation of new vehicles.

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Nigeria bans meat shipments from Benin - 31/7/02

The Nigerian government has decided to prohibit the importation of frozen meat importation via Benin. All goods of this kind are currently blocked at the Benin / Nigeria border. We therefore recommend that you postpone any frozen meat shipment for Nigeria via Cotonou until further notice.

Negotiations are underway between the Beninese and Nigerian authorities in order to reach a consensus on this issue. We will advise you of any change.

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Intertek Services Limited issue refunds - July 2002

The Nigerian government has made a partial payment for outstanding debt to ISC Services Limited (ISC) and Swede Control Intertek. In turn Intertek Testing Service (ITS) are now able to refund deposits for inspections performed and corresponding CRF's issued between the 1st February 1999 to the 17th March 1999. Only exporters who received certificates within the quoted time frame are entitled to a refund.

For full details and a deposit claim form please contact the following:

Intertek Testing Services International Limited
Academy Place
1-9 Brook Street
Brentwood
Essex CM14 5NQ
Tel: 01277 223255
Fax: 01277 220127
Website: www.itsfts.com
Contacts: Jason Wellden General Manager

Questions & Answers

Why has ITS done this?
ITS has received partial payment for its services during 1999, the period where deposits were made by exporters in advance of Nigerian PSI services.

Why is ITS making a partial refund?
Exporters made deposits subject to the terms of the original notice to exporters. ITS are making a refund to those exporters who made deposits for inspections performed and corresponding CRF's issued between 01/02/99 and 17/03/99, as ITS itself has only received partial payment.

Why is ITS deducting bank charges?
The original deposit was made under clear instruction that bank charges would not be to ITS's cost. These have been deducted prior to payments being made.

Why can I not have the interest earned on the account during this period?
In the original instructions it was made clear that interest would not be credited to the deposit, Please note that the money deposited was immediately consumed by ITS in providing the on-going PSI services dating 1999.

I have a deposit slip dated before 17th March 1999 but the CRF is dated after that date - can I have a refund?
No. Both documents must be within the refund period. I cannot find my documentation.

Is that a problem?
Repayment can only be made where bona fide documents are presented.

Can the refund be made in cash?
No. ITS will mae all refunds by cheque.

What if I am not the exporter, but the exporter's representative?
Repayments can only be made to the exporter of record.

What is ITS's mechanism for paying exporters?
ITS has maintained records of payment receipts and will provide refunds once ITS receive bona fide evidence that you are the exporter entitled to the refund. Where deposits were made by ITS raising an invoice to you, tax liabilities paid by ITS and deducted from the deposit should be claimed back by you from the tax authorities on return to you of the net fee and credit note.

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Nigeria - Ruling on 5 year old vehicles - June 2002

The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service has announced that the ban on 5 year old vehicles does not affect trucks or lorries. However the grace period for other vehicles will expire on 16 August 2002. By then all importers with cars over 5 years old, must have removed their vehicles from the port by that date, otherwise they will be in contravention of the law.

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Nigerian Destination Inspection - June 2002

There is a report in the Nigerian 'Guardian' newspaper that the Destination Inspection date of July 1st is no longer "feasible". This announcement was made by Dr. Olu Ogunloye who is the Minister of State for Defence (Navy). He is reported to have said that a fresh date is to be decided by the Federal Government within the next three months after weighing the benefits of the system. A committee is to be set up to look into all outstanding issues and to make recommendations to the government.

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Nigerian Customs procedures on drugs - 16th May 2002

NAFDAC hereby notifies all drug importers that the following Pre-shipment information must be made available to the NAFDAC Port Inspectorate Directorate (PID) before any drug consignment arrives Nigeria from any part of the world.

1. Name of the drug product.
2. Manufacturer's Name and Address
3. Quantity being imported.
4. Various pack sizes, strength of the drug and the dosage form (tabs, caps, inj, syr, etc.)
5. Batch number, manufacture and expiry dates.
6. Conveying vessel and expected date of arrival

This pre-shipment information will help NAFDAC to inspect, analyze and release your products on time. Failure of any importer to comply will be seen as a blatant intent to smuggle the drugs into Nigeria, and such company will be seriously sanctioned by NAFDAC. The deterrent sanctions for offenders are as follows:

A first time offender; Payment of One million naira (N1,000,000.00) only, in addition to other requirements for release of imported products. An unregistered product attracts an additional payment of four hundred thousand naira (N400,000.00) only and must satisfy all due registration processes before it can be released.

For a second time offender, the product will not only be seized and destroyed; it will also be banned from being imported into the country for (5) years. This applies to both registered and unregistered products.

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Licence fee for new customs - April 2002

The Federal government has increased the licence fee for new Customs clearing agents from N20,000 to N50,000with an annual renewal charge increase of N10,000 to N200,000. Agents will also have to pay an insurance bond of N350,000 and pay an operational fee of N15,000 to the port.

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Import/Export changes outlined in the Nigerian Budget 2002

The Nigerian Government has approved a number of tariff amendments in the 2002 budget, all of which take effect from 6 March 2002. The major measures are as follows:

1. Vehicles over 5 years old from the year of manufacture shall not be allowed into Nigeria.
2. Importation of vehicles irrespective of age through land borders will not be allowed.
3. Confirmation that pre shipment inspection will stop in June 2002. Destination Inspection will commence 1 July 2002.
4. Importation of used refrigerators, air conditioners, and compressors will be banned. However there is a reduction on duty for a range of spare parts for air conditioners and compressors.
5. Containers from third countries will not be allowed to enter through neighbouring countries. This will be good news for shipping lines, as we can keep an eye on the whereabouts of our containers.
6. All agricultural cash crops e.g. cocoa, groundnuts, rubber, cotton, palm produce, gum arabic, ginger etc., shall enjoy a 5% Export Expansion Grant (EEG) in 2002
7. A wide range of "luxury" imported food items now attracts 100% duty. These include, margarine, sausages, sugar confectionery, chewing gum, chocolate, pasta, prepared food such as cornflakes, bread, cakes pastry etc, ice cream, beer, wine and spirits.
8. Tobacco, or tobacco substitute items such as cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos also attracts 100% duty.

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Please note the following changes to Nigerian Pre-Shipment Inspection procedures:

A circular issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria on 1st March outlines changes to pre-shipment arrangements.

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, ABUJA

OUR REF: TED/AD/10/2002

TO: ALL AUTHORISED DEALERS NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE, SHIPPING COMPANIES, INSPECTION AGENTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC

ADDENDUM TO IMPORT GUIDELINES

This is to inform all Authorized Dealers and the general public that the following additional guidelines shall, henceforth, apply to all imports into the country:
1. All imports into the country shall continue to be subject to the completion of Form M, irrespective of value and whether valid for foreign exchange or not.
2. Where the processing bank for the Form ‘M’ is a Designated bank, payment of import duty and other charges shall be made only through that bank.
3. All goods destined for Nigeria shall be in unitised packages, that is, containerised (in 40, 20, 10, or 8 feet container sizes) or standardized crates, combis, shrink wrapped pallets, tanks, ISO-tanks, boxes and one-ton sacks.
4. Under the Pre-shipment Inspection Scheme which has been scheduled to terminate on 30th June, 2002, it should be noted that where the goods to be shipped constitute a full container load (FCL), the exporter (seller) shall be required to provide an appropriate container size at the time of inspection. The relevant Pre-shipment Inspection Agent (PIA) shall be required to seal such a container on satisfactory inspection before stuffing and shipment.
5. Where no container has been provided to enable the PIA carry out appropriate sealing after stuffing, the pre-shipment inspection exercise should be aborted. In such cases, the supplier shall bear the cost of the subsequent inspection activity.
6. For goods that are less than a container load (LCL), the goods so inspected in unitised packages, shall be identified by the relevant PIA’s hologram or mark. For the avoidance of doubt, a hologram or mark should be pasted conspicuously on all packages or pallets after inspection, where such goods are not full container loads.
7. The Bill of Lading/Airway bill/Way bill required for ALL IMPORTS shall be claused “Shipped on Board” or “Clean on Board” and issued by the Captain of the carrying vessel or his agent. Where, however, the Bill of Lading/Airway bill/Waybill is not so claused, a Carrier Certificate issued by the Captain of the vessel shall be an additional document needed for importation.

Please note that all the existing provisions on imports as contained in the Import Guidelines for 1999 and the Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade & Exchange Policy Guidelines for Fiscal 2002/2003 shall continue to apply.

Authorised Dealers are enjoined to bring these details to the attention of their customers for compliance, please.

MRS O.A. DEMUREN - DIRECTOR - TRADE & EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT

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