The Nigeria Customs Service has said it will be fully reinstating the VIN Valuation process from Monday May 2, 2022 while assuring that stakeholders will be satisfied with the incorporated ideas and suggestions from their end.
The Service made this disclosure in a stakeholders’ meeting held at Customs headquarters in Abuja.
It can be recalled that the VIN valuation policy was first introduced in February but was stiffly resisted by clearing agents operating at the Tin Can Island and PTML Customs Commands in Lagos. The clearing agents had staged protests for two weeks on reasons that the policy hiked the Customs duty payable on fairly used imported vehicles by more than 200%.
Following their complaints, and in line with Article 2 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (RTD) deemed it necessary to send a delegation comprising two members of management, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Hamza Gumi and, Saidu Galadima to engage stakeholders in a town hall meeting in Lagos. This occasion provided stakeholders with the opportunity for airing their grievances and the articulation of possible solutions that will meet the expectations of all parties.
The outcome of the town hall meeting held in Lagos led to an approval for a 30-day moratorium by the Comptroller General of Customs. This gave room for a review of the VIN VALUATION protocol, aimed at incorporating all their observations while allowing for the manual release of vehicles in the interim.
What NCS is now saying
Stakeholders from ANLCA, NAGAFF, Association of Auto Dealers of Nigeria and others were invited to get a first-hand look at the reviewed version of the VIN VALUATION process which incorporates all their observations and reflects discounted values consistent with the make and models of all vehicles in the system.
During the meeting at the Customs Headquarters, Comptrollers Import/Export Musa MBA and Valuation Anthony Udenze stressed the importance of transparency and honesty in declarations made by agents and importers. They appreciated the efforts of the associations in articulating the concerns of their members and stressed the need to inform them of the progress made so far.
“VIN valuation process is set to be fully reinstated in the month of May 2022. Stakeholders will be satisfied with the incorporated ideas and suggestions from their end,” Customs spokesman Timi Bomodi said.
The NCS charged importers and clearing agents to embrace transparency and honesty in making their declarations at the point of entry.
Meanwhile, Customs National Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Timi Bomodi also stated that the Service is interested in the enhancement of the user experiences of all its stakeholders and the improvements in the VIN Valuation protocol serve as a testament to that claim.
While responding to Bomodi, a representative of one of the associations Mr Kayode Farinto expressed delight as to the final result of the review. He appealed for constant engagement between NCS and stakeholders to reduce the likelihood of conflicts in future.
