Months after the kickoff announcement, the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has persisted in dragging its feet in implementing a zero import tax waiver on a selection of food goods, according to report.
Husked brown rice, grain, sorghum, millet, maize, wheat, and beans are among the food commodities that will be subject to a zero tariff for a period of 150 days, starting on July 15 and ending on December 31, 2024.
The tariff waiver was initially made public in June 2024 by Finance Minister Wale Edun as a component of President Tinubu’s administration’s economic policy initiatives to lower food prices.
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In July 2024, the Comptroller General of NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi confirmed the government’s commitment towards the commencement of the tariff waiver.
On August 14, 2024, Customs stated in a statement that they will be releasing comprehensive rules for carrying out the tariff waiver. This was supposed to be the start of the policy.
“Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is pleased to announce that His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR through the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun has approved the regulation for the implementation of a Zero Percent Duty Rate (0 percent) and Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption on selected basic food items.
“This measure aims to mitigate the high cost of food items in the Nigerian market by making essential commodities more affordable for citizens”, Customs stated.
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Nigerians have bemoaned the fact that the policy has not yet been implemented, despite the tariff waiver being announced months ago.
This is due to the fact that the goal of lowering food costs has not been met, and the majority of Nigerians are unhappy about the rapidly rising cost of life.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, market realities revealed that food and products prices remained high even though National Bureau of Statistics inflation estimates for July and August showed food inflation reduced to 39.53 and 37.52 percent.
According to a Newsmen market study conducted on Monday, the price range for a 50-kilogram bag of domestic or imported rice is between N87,000 and N106,000.
This is because the price range for a 50 kilogramme bag of beans is N65,000 to N100,000. For the majority of Nigerians, access to staple food has become a nightmare, a condition that would have been reduced with the implementation of the zero-tariff waiver on specified food items.
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The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise’s Executive Director, Muda Yusuf, discussed the situation in an interview with Newsmen on Monday. She stated that the government’s sluggish implementation of the zero tariff policy was the main issue.
He said that there was a significant delay between the government’s announcement of the policy and the creation of the implementation instructions.
He emphasised that the country’s economy had not yet suffered the full effects of the tariff waiver, therefore it had not yet been fully implemented.
Yusuf pushed the administration to expedite the policy’s adoption.
“The customs must implement the policy. The customs need to be advised by the ministry of finance, and until that is done, implementation cannot start.
“I think it has to do with the speed of the implementation of the policy. When the Government announces a policy, the ministry ought to work on the guidelines, which are transmitted by the ministry of finance to the customs. I think there is a lag between the announcement of the policy and the production of the guidelines.
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“The policy has not been fully activated which is why the impact is not felt. This is because all the processes in terms of guidelines are a bit slow. The government needs to work on the speed of implementation”, he told Newsmen.
Olufemi Kayode, a member of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command Chapter of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANNLCA) and Special Assistant to Prince Adewusi Bamigbala, the ANLCA’s Chairman, criticised Customs on his part, pointing out that the policy’s implementation still lacked a precise and appropriate guideline.
He said that the application of the tariff for the benefit of all Nigerians might be undermined by internal sabotage and dissatisfaction inside the Customs department.
“Generally speaking, from the circular available there are no clear-cut directives apart from the fact that some of the tariffs were mentioned.
“There are no proper guidelines for its implementation. The Customs must put it into proper perspective.
“There is the possibility of internal sabotage or frustration in getting the implementation right.
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“Customs may be having internal challenges about the proper classification or coding of the tariff waiver into its portal”, he said.
In response, NCS spokesperson Abdullahi Maiwada stated in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST that the claim that the service was impeding the use of the zero-tariff waiver policy on specific food items was inaccurate.
He claimed that the Service has informed Nigerians about the steps involved in obtaining the tariff waiver.
He continued by saying that the NCS supported all government-formulated initiatives aimed at lessening the financial hardships that Nigerians were experiencing.
“Well, we have issued a statement earlier and we told Nigerians procedures of accessing the tariff waiver.
“It is malicious to say Customs is sabotaging the implementation of the policy.
“We are a responsible government agency. We are out to implement all policies formulated by the government.
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