The Federal Government has planned to establish a National Single Window platform at port to boost international trade, end arbitrary charges, under-the-table payments and boost revenue generation from the non-oil sector.
The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Tuesday during his interview on Arise TV.
He noted that lack of implementation of a single window platform is reportedly costing Nigeria N1.08 trillion revenue yearly.
Adeniyi explained that President Bola Tinubu came under the mantra of Renewed Hope of rebuilding the economy, giving hope to economic prosperity and the issues of port competitiveness and port efficiency, among others.
Speaking on the directive by the Minister of Finance that import duty on steel and electric vehicles be removed, he noted, “The Customs is going to implement all fiscal policies directed by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“There are a number of other directives meant to engineer development in the various sectors of the economy. One of them is the removal of seven per cent VAT on LPG gas, among others. This is all part of the effort that the government is taking to revive our economy, and Customs, as an agency of the government, has no choice but to implement and also communicate this to Nigerians to make people understand the rationale behind such policies.”
The Customs boss also added thatthe Federal Government’s plan to establish a national single window at the ports to facilitate quick clearance and export of goods.
This is coming six years after the Buhari administration pledged, in 2018, at different fora to creat the platform but failed to do so before it left the office last year
Adeniyi then pointed out that the policy advisory documents enunciated by the Tinubu administration was very clear on some of the directions which the government wanted to go and that the Nigeria Customs Service “is very happy to align to some of this and very key among these is the introduction of the single window technology to drive operations in the port. .”
The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, Adeniyi said, “has been very clear on this particular initiative.”
Adeniyi stated further that the Tinubu administration has a long-term, strategic port planning system that would ensure that the seaports provide adequate capacity to meet the demands of major stakeholders, operators, port users and their alliance partners in sizeable blocks of volume.
“We are going to implement this single window policy and other fiscal policies directed by federal government of Nigeria. There are a number of other directives along this line meant to engineer development in the various sectors that are critical for economic recovery programme and of course you remember the removal of 7% VAT. VAT on LPG gas and all of that, these are all parts of efforts which government is taking to revive our economy and the Custom as agency, we don’t have any choice than to implement. We have the obligation to communicate things and let Nigerians understand the rationale behind some of these policies and how fascinated is there implementation,” Adeniyi assured.
Reports revealed that government is losing about 30 per cent of its revenue to the arbitrary charges, under-the-table payments and the huge number of uncleared goods at the ports based on the lack of National Single Window platform.
Some of the stakeholders who spoke on Nigeria becoming the African maritime hub after listening to Adeniyi were unanimous that the country needs a single window platform to deliver the highest value in terms of efficiency, quality, reliability of service and remain competitive in the international market.
One of the stakeholders and maritime lawyer Dr Dipo Alaka explained that Nigeria remains the only country without a single-window platform in Africa in an age where information technology drives every process.
The country according to him,has continued to trailed behind other African nations in the automation of processes at the seaports and urged the government to implement the NSW initiative.
A single window, he said,, “is an organic mixture of parties in a nation’s international trade. It uses the latest information communications technology (ICT) techniques, international data and messaging standards together with simplified, harmonised and remodelled information systems for data exchange to replace traditional paper-based information.
“Implementation of a single window system enables international (cross-border) traders to submit regulatory documents at a single location and/or single entity. Such documents are typically customs declarations, applications for import/export permits, and other supporting documents, such as certificates of origin and trading invoices,” Alaka said.
Another stakeholder and former President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Prince Olayiwola Shittu said, the National Single Window is the ultimate in port operation. “But it must be multi-agencies integrated for it to be successful.
“The bottleneck created by the individual Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as the Nigerian Ports Authority (‘NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), various terminal operators, shipping firms and other government agencies at ports and border stations must be dismantled by the Federal Government so that they can align their various e-platforms to the NSW platform,” Shittu said.
Also, speaking, a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transport, who preferred anonymity, said the Federal Government would generate additional $800 million yearly from the ports and border stations if government agencies key into the SW initiative.
The official called o the Federal Executive Council to compel all approved government agencies at the ports but the idea in order to facilitate trade and generate more revenue, enjoining the National Assembly to support the initiative with a law.
