Customs 4% charge on FOB imports will worsen inflation, undermine ease of doing business, warns Saraki
Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has cautioned the federal government against implementing the 4% Customs administration charge on Free On Board imports.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Wednesday announced enforcing a 4% charge on the Free On-Board (FOB) value of imports in accordance with the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act (NCSA) 2023.
Although the Customs claim the FOB implementation would enhance the effectiveness of its operations, Saraki posited that the implementation would however worsen inflationary pressure and undermines ease of doing business.
In a post on his X handle, he said: “With our annual imports estimated at N71 trillion, the new 4% customs administration charge on Free On Board (FOB) value will come to N2.84 trillion. Does this mean that the Customs Service requires an additional N2.84 trillion annually to do its job? Don’t forget they already have a budget and get an incentive percentage on total customs duties collected.
“Now, they want to spend more than $1.5 billion on running costs in a country with the poverty index we have and with many businesses closing down, Importers will inevitably pass these costs on to consumers, further straining the budgets of millions of struggling households.
“This new fee of 4% is not even restricted to luxury goods but across all imports, so even for industries that import their raw materials whose duties are only 5%, the customs agency will now charge importers an extra 80% of the duty amount as administrative fees! How can this make sense or support the government’s policy of promoting the ease of doing business? The government must urgently reconsider this policy and put it on hold immediately. Especially not now with what Nigerians are going through.”
