Apapa Customs facilitates N34.072billion export trade in three months 

The Apapa command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has recorded N34,072,869,799.00 with Free On Board (FOB) value of $87.99,356.10 USD from exportation of agricultural produce, mineral resources, steel among other as against N30..2 billion FOB value of $82.1 million between January and March, 2021.

The Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Yusuf Malanta made the disclosure in his first quarter report.

Comptroller Malanta stated that the command made N264,536,201,293.71 revenue within the period under review.

The figure represents an increase of N104 billion as against what the command made within the same period in 2021. The increase represents 65.7 percent in revenue collection.

Yusuf said, “This feat was made possible because of our officers’ creativity and leveraging on the service IT platform to ensure all revenue leakages have been mitigated, as well as sustaining the level of compliance by the importers/stakeholders in the clearance value chain”, he said.

In anti-smuggling drive, the command recorded 46 seizures of various items with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1,142,876,606.00, indicating 18 seizures more than 28 made in the corresponding months of the year 2021.

The seizures include unregistered medicaments such as tramadol and codeine syrup, unprocessed wood, used clothing, footwear, foreign parboiled rice and other sundry items that contravenes sections 46 and 47 of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LFN 2004.

The CAC said: “Anti-smuggling activities has been a matter of central concern in the command, particularly with the activities of recalcitrant traders who are always looking for ways to undermine our system.

“At this juncture, let me reiterate that Apapa Command is always ready to assist in facilitating legitimate trade and ensuring that all forms of smuggling activities through false declaration on import/export done in defiance to extant trade guidelines will be detected through our layers of control mechanism”.

He disclosed that some of the suspects arrested in connection with the seizures have already been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), while others are facing various criminal charges in court.

The Comptroller called on stakeholders to join forces with the command and ensure that items that are on the import/export prohibition list are strictly adhered to, while urging them to prepare for the emerging realities of customs examination through non intrusive inspection (NII) regime.

“The non-intrusive inspection regime is targeted at increasing volume of cargo inspection, saving cost/clearing time,
storing reliable data and Images for reference purposes and reducing human contact in the examination of containerized cargoes leading to delay in the clearance time”, he explained.

Compt. Malanta stated that the glowing commendations the Command has received recently from the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and his management team has further strengthened its drive to sustain the tempo and up the ante in discharging its responsibilities.

He thanked the CGC and his Management team for their unwavering support, government agencies in the port for collaboration and synergy, Officers and men of the Apapa Command for their tireless commitment, as well as compliant stakeholders and the media for their unalloyed support.