Customs Issues Guidelines for Zero Duty on Food Imports

Nigerian Customs has released new guidelines for the zero-duty policy on food imports, aiming to ease food scarcity and inflation.

On Wednesday, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) made known that President Bola Tinubu has granted approval for a Zero Percent Duty Rate (0%) and Value Added Tax (VAT) waiver on specific essential food items.

According to a statement released by Customs representative Abdullahi Maiwada, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun, communicated that presidential approval had been granted.

According to Maiwada, this policy will take effect on July 15th, 2024 and will be in place until December 31st of the same year.

According to him, the action will ease the difficulties that Nigerians are encountering as a result of elevated costs of necessary food products.

The Customs spokesman highlighted that although the temporary measure aims to alleviate existing difficulties, it upholds the long-term plans established for shielding local farmers and supporting manufacturers.

According to him, the policy’s execution would prioritize tackling the shortage of supplies at a national level.

For a company to partake in the importation of essential food items without duty charges, it must be registered and operational within Nigeria for at least five years. Additionally, the organization is required to have submitted annual returns and financial reports while fulfilling tax obligations and meeting payroll requirements over this period.

To import husked brown rice, grain sorghum or millet, companies must possess a milling plant capable of producing at least 100 tons per day and have operated it for no less than four years. Additionally, they need to have suitable farmland available for cultivation.

According to him, only agricultural companies with adequate farmland or feed mills/agro-processing firms having an out-grower network for cultivation are permitted to import maize, wheat, or beans.

FULL LIST

He listed basic food items eligible for the zero percent duty rate as follows:

I. Husked Brown Rice

II. Grain Sorghum

III. Millet

IV. Maize

V. Wheat

VI. Beans

To support the importation of basic food items in line with this policy, the NCS will receive a catalog of authorized quotas and importers from the Federal Ministry of Finance on a regular basis.

To comply with the policy, recognised commodities exchanges must sell a minimum of 75% of imported goods. All transactions and storage activities need to be recorded for transparency purposes. Businesses are responsible for maintaining detailed records regarding all related operations which may be requested by the government as part of compliance checks.

According to the Customs spokesman, failure by a company to fulfill its import authorization duties will result in the loss of all waivers and necessitate payment of relevant VAT, levies, and import tariffs. This penalty remains valid even if said company exports those imported items outside Nigeria either processed or unprocessed.

The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, reiterated the agency’s dedication to simplifying procedures that will aid Tinubu’s efforts towards achieving food security.

At Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters in Abuja, on Tuesday August 13th, 2024 he revealed this during the official launching of his book “Impactful Public Relations in Customs Management”.

The objective of the CGC is to facilitate the prompt importation of food products while complying with standards that minimize expenses and decrease consumer prices.

During the 2nd Economic Confidential Annual Lecture, which occurred simultaneously with the book launch, the Comptroller-General reiterated Customs Service’s unwavering dedication to tackling food security issues. Specifically, he emphasized targeted initiatives aimed at increasing agricultural production.”