•Importers of low-cost cars, buses out of business
IMPORTERS of low-cost vehicles may have been pushed out of business by the new regime of duty being paid at the ports.
The duty has gone up by a minimum of 120 per cent on vehicles manufactured before 2013.
For instance, a pre-2013 vehicle on which N300,000 to N500,000 was paid as duty, now attracts between N1 million and N1.3 million.
Officials said the government is protecting Nigeria from becoming a dumping ground for “over-aged” vehicles by implementing the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the valuation of imported vehicles.
Common among such vehicles are the “old” models of Golf, Toyota Corolla and Toyota Matrix.
Some of the ‘used’ vehicles, if not cleared within a stipulated period, may also be declared as illegal imports and seized by the Customs.
An importer, Mr Fola Balogun, said the introduction of VIN for vehicle clearance was an indirect way by the government to phase out older vehicles as the age limit of recognised vehicles is now 2013.
Balogun said that owners of vehicles below the 2013 model are now being forced by the government to pay 2013 duties before they can move their vehicles out of the port.
Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Ports & Terminal Chapter, George Okafor, said “the challenges are that cars from the 2012 model and downwards are still paying the duty of the 2013 model.”
“The ones that are cheaper now are even the duty we pay on the 2013 model. If you bring in a car whose year is lower than 2013, you will be asked to pay for 2013. “Cars lower than 2013 will pay the duty for a 2013 model, which makes the payment higher.
“It is like the government wants to phase out old vehicles, they want to discourage people from bringing in older vehicles.”
Acting National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANCLA), Dr Kayode Farinto, said the VIN platform has made payment of duty on old vehicles huge.
Farinto said: “What I think the Federal Government should do through the Federal Ministry of Finance is to review the policy. But, it is the policy of the Federal Government and we can’t expect the management of the NCS to legitimise illegality.
“You can’t see a 2009 vehicle in the system; the least you can see is 2013. The policy is that private vehicles coming into the country cannot be older than 12 years while commercial vehicles can be up to 15 years old.”
Speaking with The Nation at the weekend, Public Relations Officer (PRO), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin-Can Island Port Command, Lagos, Mr Uche Ejesieme, affirmed that any vehicle coming to the country that is now below the 2013 model is technically an illegal import and could be seized by the Customs based on the government policy on importation of used vehicles.
Ejesieme said VIN was introduced in February 2022 by the Customs Service as part of its efforts to ensure uniformity of duties on imported used vehicles of the same year, company and model.
He said the VIN platform was only trying to assist the importers of such ‘old’ used vehicles by asking them to pay the 2013 duty because such vehicles that are below the 2013 model are supposed to be seized by the service.
The NCS spokesman said: “The system is even trying to assist them. What the law says is that such a vehicle should be seized. That is the law. The law is very clear on that.
“The system is only trying to be good to them if it asks them to pay the duty of 2013 model on 2006 model. If they are complaining, they are just implicating themselves.”
He added that some of the non-standard vehicles – vehicles without 17-digit chassis number, like Mercedes Benz, some ML, and some X-Class that were not captured on the VIN platform which had made payment of duty on them cumbersome for some of the importers and clearing agents have been addressed by the management of the service.
The Nation checks outlined a seven-step process on how to use VIN by importers and clearing agents to clear non-standard and non-chassis vehicles from the port. These include:
* The importer or clearing agent is expected to input the VIN of the vehicles to be cleared using 000. The VIN Valuation Service will then decode the VIN to get the information of the vehicle the importer of his agent intends to clear from the port;
* If the VIN of the vehicle is not found because of the year of the vehicle or country of origin, the system will automatically display an error message;
* At that stage, the importer of the clearing agent is required to print the error message and apply to the Customs Area Controller (CAC) at the port terminal for approval of the use of the Non-Standard VIN procedure code;
* The printed error message, VREG Certificate and bill of lading are expected to be attached to the application letter to be sent to the CAC, which must include the details of the vehicle (vehicle name, VIN and year of manufacturing);
* After approval by the CAC, the importer or his agent will proceeds to the Valuation Office for examination of the vehicle by the Customs officers in charge and a valuation assessment would be given to him or her;
* With the assessment, the importer or his agent will now go ahead and make declaration on the NICIS using CODE 846 on the system;
* The importer or the agent will then attach his application with the minutes by the CAC & DC or OCs Valuation-Code 125, pictures of accidented or salvaged vehicles, if applicable; and
Valuation Assessment and Examination report be provided before duty can be paid on old vehicles below 2013 models.
However, one of the challenges with the system is that the value for the non-standard vehicles is at the discretion of the Customs Area Controller and valuation officer, hence the reason clearing agents said importers and traders need to look at the country of origin of each vehicle and ensure that the chassis has a 17-digit number.
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