Stakeholders seek removal of 1% CISS charges on importation

Worried by the growing cost of doing business in Nigerian seaports, industry stakeholders have urged the Federal Government to put an end to the 1 percent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) charges on imports paid to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

The stakeholders who took turns to appraise the clearing charges at the nation’s seaports said the CISS, which was introduced by the Federal Government years back at the inception of the Destination Inspection regime that was handled by the service providers, should be removed because the contracts of the service providers had been terminated.

Jonathan Nicol, president, Shippers’ Association Lagos State (SALST), while advocating the removal of the 1 percent CISS charge, confirmed that Customs had been imposing the 1 percent CISS on import since the termination of the DI scheme.

He said that a large chunk of shippers’ investment capital went into the 1 percent CISS charge, noting that this was affecting these shippers’ individual businesses. He added that the 7 percent of total import duties collected by Customs was large enough incentive to sustain the annual expenditure of services at the ports.

It would be recalled that on December 1, 2013, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) took over the Destination Inspection scheme from the three service providers – SGS, Cotecna and Global Scansystems – in line with the Federal Government directive.

“When the Federal Government contracted the private service providers, the 1 percent CISS charge was levied on the Nigerian shippers to sustain them, but from January 2014 till date importers are still paying the charge despite the fact that DI has ended. We are of the opinion that if necessary, the 1 percent CISS should be paid to Customs from the Federation Account and not from the pockets of the Nigerian shippers,” Nicol added.

BusinessDay check reveals that between January and November 2013, Nigerian importers paid over N29.7 billion to the service providers, covering the CISS charges.

Also commenting on the issue, John Ofobike, western zonal coordinator of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), who condemned the collection of 1 percent CISS by the NCS, said that rather than Customs, the 1 percent CISS should be allocated to clearing agents as compensation for their efforts towards generating revenue for the government.

Ofobike noted that even though the NCS had been efficiently handling the destination inspection service, it should not be entitled to the 1 percent CISS.

“Nigerian Customs is a government parastatal that has statutory means of generating revenue. Therefore, the issue of 1 percent CISS should not even be talked about by them. It should be given to clearing agents, not Customs, if government wants to be sincere,” he said.

Responding to this, the NCS management said it was legitimate for the service to collect the 1 percent CISS because it provided Destination Inspection services, maintained scanners, kept offices open for 24 hours and paid the workers well.

Wale Adeniyi, national public relations officer, NCS, said Customs should retain the 1 percent CISS since it now provided the destination inspection formerly provided by the service providers during their contract period.

Uzoamaka Anagor