The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the
\nNigeria Customs Service (NCS) have agreed to join forces to close
\nloopholes in the Temporary Importation Permit (TIP) system that
\nimporters often exploit to avoid levies due to the government.
\nDirector-General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, stated this in Abuja on
\nWednesday when he visited the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col.
\nHameed Ali (rtd).<\/p>\n
Jamoh said the temporary import permit issue was one of the biggest
\nchallenges faced by the maritime sector, stressing that it has denied
\nthe Federal Government huge revenue.<\/p>\n
Ali spoke in a similar vein, saying it is important for the NCS and
\nNIMASA to develop a common platform for dealing with problems arising
\nfrom the TIP.<\/p>\n
Jamoh stated, “The biggest issue we have has to do with temporary
\nimportation. What we observed is that people capitalize on the good
\ngesture of government policies.<\/p>\n
“Those that are benefiting from this temporary importation bring in
\ntheir own ship and after one year they will take it back to their
\ncountry and import back with a different name.<\/p>\n
“They do it constantly and this is to the disadvantage of our Nigerian
\nshipowners.”<\/p>\n
He said Cabotage trade, which falls within the core functions of NIMASA,
\nwas suffering as a result of the abuse of the temporary import permit,
\nand, “At the end of the day, it is indigenous shipowners that bear the
\nbrunt.”<\/p>\n
The Director-General said the Merchant Shipping Act provided that
\nvessels used in importation should be registered with the Nigeria Ship
\nRegistry, but in most cases, the importers did not.<\/p>\n
He called for greater synergy between NIMASA and NCS, and indeed, all
\nagencies in the maritime sector, to address pertinent issues and improve
\nthe sector.<\/p>\n
Jamoh said it was in pursuit of such cooperation that a regular meeting
\nof heads of maritime agencies was recently initiated. The meeting
\ndebuted on July 7 in Lagos at the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC). It
\nhad in attendance Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello; Managing
\nDirector of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman; Managing
\nDirector, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George
\nMoghalu; and Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Commodore
\nEmmanuel Effedua (rtd).<\/p>\n
Jamoh said the essence of the meeting was to identify and speedily
\ntackle challenges faced by operators in the sector without the
\nimpediments of official bureaucracy. He invited the NCS
\nComptroller-General to join the heads of maritime agencies meeting.<\/p>\n
“After the meeting, we decided to incorporate the Freight Forwarders’
\nRegulators to be on board,” Jamoh stated, adding, “The MD NPA and I have
\nboth agreed to extend the fellowship to you and you have the liberty to
\njoin us via zoom.”<\/p>\n
Jamoh appreciated the efforts of the NCS under Ali to curb smuggling in
\nthe country and enhance revenue generation.<\/p>\n
Responding, the Comptroller-General of Customs pledged the commitment of
\nthe service to pooling resources with NIMASA to address the TIP issue
\nand other problems in the sector. He said there was need for both
\nagencies to design a common framework for tackling the issues.<\/p>\n
Ali said such approach would ensure that if Customs registered a ship
\nand gave it a TIP, NIMASA would also have records of that registration
\non its own platform.<\/p>\n
According to him, “We should have more identity of the ship beyond the
\nname, as name can be erased and another name used. We must now
\ncollectively get some identity of the ship that goes beyond name that
\nshould be registered in our records and yours so that if there is
\nrecycling of the ship, using that platform, we should be able to
\nidentify the ship and be able to apply the law as it is.<\/p>\n
“We should create that synergy based on ICT. I request that your IT
\nstaff synergise with ours to develop a platform that will create that
\ncollaboration, such that everything we record or register will reflect
\nin your own record.”<\/p>\n
The Comptroller-General said the Customs was in the process of launching
\ntwo patrol boats that would go beyond the creeks, to enhance maritime
\nsecurity.<\/p>\n
“We have mounted the necessary machine guns, one had an accident but it
\nhas been repaired, and very soon we will launch them into operations,”
\nhe said. “We will keep you posted as we intend to synergise with you to
\nensure the safety of our waterways,” Ali added.<\/p>\n
He also stated, “It is my hope that we will strengthen the relationship
\nand increase the synergy between us as maritime operators, and, most
\nimportantly, to ensure that not only the revenue aspect of it is
\nimproved, but also to secure our waters.<\/p>\n
“The security of our people is more important than the revenue, because
\nno matter how much you collect, if our people are not settled, or not in
\npeace, then the whole essence of the revenue is bastardised.<\/p>\n
“So it is our hope that we join hands with you and make sure that we
\nwork assiduously to ensure that our waterways are safe and profitable.”<\/p>\n
Ali commended the NIMASA Director-General for the CEOs’ forum
\ninitiative, saying it would help to boost the sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have agreed to join forces to close loopholes in the Temporary Importation Permit (TIP) system that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n