The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has expressed concerns over reported plans by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to reintroduce the suspended four per cent Free-on-Board (FOB) levy at the ports.
Customs had promised to suspend the levy after the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Eduno, met the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. With the planned reintroduction, the Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said it would have catastrophic impact on the manufacturing sector and the entire business community.
Ajayi-Kadir, who made this known to New Telegraph in Lagos yesterday, said the Association viewed the development as an unfortunate and retrogressive one, claiming that the extensive stakeholder engagement promised had not been inclusive.
According to him, “MAN opined that the overwhelming opinion of the stakeholder engagement would have dissuaded the Service from implementing the levy and proffered a more progressive and sustainable option for increased revenue for the NCS and government.
“If implemented, this will be an additional burden to the one per cent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) fee being paid by its members at a time that all Government agencies should be seeking ways to de-escalate cost of doing business in Nigeria, as it is being done in other climes and economies.”
The MAN DG noted: “It is equally worrisome that this is coming at a time when there is still a looming danger of the unwarranted 15 pet cent hike in port charges; our members are struggling with the astronomical increase in the effective import duty calculations rate. and contending with unprecedented rise in the cost of energy.”
He continued: “We had expected that the NCS would ultimately rescind the move to introduce the evidently unpopular and ill-timed levy.
We didn’t expect to read on the pages of newspapers that the levy will be reintroduced, even before the promised wide consultation with stakeholders like MAN and other private sector organizations. We admonish that the decision should be put away before it worsens and degenerates into an economic quagmire.”
