The Nigeria Customs Service has approved a month grace for the clearance of a backlog of vehicles following recent Customs/Stakeholders town hall meeting held in Lagos on Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)-Valuation.
This is to enable clearing of the backlog of vehicles held up at the ports, as a result of the strike action by clearing agents.
The Customs National Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Timi Bomodi, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos.
“Meanwhile, uniform application of rebates would be used for all vehicles using correct values for assessment during the exercise.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the VIN-Valuation protocol is still in operation as reviews and updates are being captured in our systems to reflect the genuine concerns of stakeholders,” he said.
Bomodi noted that as a responsive and responsible agency, the NCS would sustain its consultations with stakeholders in line with Article 2 of WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement for a smoother Customs-stakeholders relationship.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that clearing agents on Feb. 21 crippled economic activities at the Lagos ports, with protests at the Tin Can Island Port and Port and Terminal Multi-services Ltd (PTML) Terminal.
This had to do with the anomalies in the VIN valuation system policy introduced by the NCS for imported vehicles.
(NAN)
