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The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday began collection on carbonated and sweetened drinks as contained in the Finance Act 2020. It has taken off across the country and is expected to begin to yield revenue for the government by the end of June 2022.
The Comptroller of the Lagos Industrial Command of the NCS, IQ Ogbudu ,who disclosed this when the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise visited the Command on oversight, said the policy which also form part of the Customs and Excise Management Act amendment bill currently awaiting Presidential asset took off on June 1, 2022.
She however, said that the security challenges in the country was not allowing the service carry out the needed surveillance to uncover illegal distillers that are yet to come under the Customs control, adding however that only 19 companies are currently being monitored by the command as those complying with the excise laws of the country.
She said several other companies producing carbonated and sweetened drinks were yet to be registered by the command since the policy on excise duty on such drink was still new.
She complained that majority of companies operating within the Lagos Industrial area have refused to comply with the provisions of the Customs Act which required the provision of office accommodation for officers of the service for effective discharge of their function.
Chairman of the House Committee on Customs and Excise, Rep. Leke Abejide urged the management of the NCS to find way of automating its system and linking it with that of the companies to ensure that the actual excise duty that should be paid by the companies is paid as and when due.
He said the Service must not rely on the automation by the companies to value their duties as that could be subject to manipulation, leading to loss of revenue on the part of the government. Abejide said the e-customs being planned by the government was going to lead to full automation of the operations of the Customs service and enhance its efficiency in the area of revenue generation.
He also assured that the Committee, working with its counterpart in the Senate and the Office of the Comptroller General of Customs was looking into petitions on issues of promotion and none promotion of officers of the service.
(thenationonlineng.net)
