Restore ban on rice importation, Senate tells FG

Senate on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to restore the ban on importation of rice through land borders.

Recall that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) had earlier lifted the ban on rice importation during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.

The NCS had reversed the 2014 to 2017 National Rice Policy through a circular (Ref. No. NCS/T&T/I&E/045/S.416.VOL/IX of 5th October 2015).

In the wisdom of the Senate, the lifting action of the NCS has led to increased diversion of vessels to neighbouring countries.

Adopting the report of the Ad-hoc Committee on Import Duty Waivers, Concessions and Grants on the NCS on rice importation through the land borders, the Senate expressed concern that the decision to allow importation of rice through land borders would escalate rice smuggling.

It therefore urged the Federal Government to direct the NCS to reverse itself and maintain the status quo, which brought about stability in the tariff regime.

Presenting the report of the Committee, a member of the panel, Donald Alasoadura, faulted the decision of the NCS, saying there were serious security implications accompanying uncontrolled number of trucks through the nation’s borders.

He said the Committee found out from the presentation of Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of Customs, that the NCS had a wrong notion that importers of rice through the land borders were ‘small-time’ importers of few bags that would not have negative effect on the rice policy.

The Committee, he said, noted that most of the rice brought into Nigeria through Benin Republic and Niger Republic were brought in by ‘big time businessmen,’ who had perfected evasion of payment of Customs Duty to the country by bringing rice in trucks.

The Committee also found out that any importer that imports five to 10 loads/vessels of rice into Benin Republic and destined them to Nigeria through the land borders already had predetermined motive to cheat Nigerian government of revenue through duty evasion.

The panel discovered further that lifting of the ban led to more serious revenue leakages as a result of heightened activities of smugglers across the borders, as they exploited it by paying for less number of trucks than actually brought in.

According to the Ad-hoc panel, the action of the NCS led to evasion of customs duty and revenue losses to Nigerian maritime industry: Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Maritime and Security Administration Agency (NIMASA), Freight Forwarders, haulage subsector, etc.

“There is strong possibility for dubious businessmen round tripping. That is, paying duty on three or four trucks load of rice, and use the clearing document to bring in more than 100 more truckloads. This will inevitably affect the revenue going into the Federation Account.

“There is no justification for any importer to import parboiled rice that is meant for Nigeria, discharge it at Cotonou, pay import duty at 5 percent and load the same consignment into trucks where he pays transportation cost of an average of N400,000 per truck to the Nigerian border and on arrival pay another import duty either of 30 or 70 percent. The Committee does not see any logic in this,” the report stated.

Ban on rice importation in Nigeria through land, according to the report, would improve the quality of rice produced in the country, thus creating more jobs for Nigerian farmers.

On his part, Senate president, Bukola Saraki, asked the NCS to import rice only through the sea.