Customs, CBN disagree over e-valuation of imports, exports

 

The Nigerian Customs Service has denied media allegations that it had implemented the Central Bank of Nigeria’s e-evaluator and e-invoicing for importers and exporters.

The NCS noted in a statement issued on Thursday via the service’s official Twitter handle that it stood by its initial stance, which was communicated to the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Customs and Excise, Banking, and Currencies on March 3.

The CBN launched the e-evaluator in February to reduce foreign exchange spending on fraudulent or inflated transactions.

According to a circular signed by Dr. O. S. Nnaji, Director, Trade and Exchange Department, CBN, the new policy ensures that imports and exports with unit prices greater than 2.5 percent of the verified global checkmate prices will be queried and will not be denied successful completion of Form M or Form NX.

However, the Customs also said it could not adopt the new policy because it was restricted by international treaties which it was a signatory to.

The Customs said, “The practice world over is to domicile adjudication on Customs values for import and export within the Customs administration of every country.

“The NCS, undoubtedly, is alive to its statutory functions and has a vibrant Valuation Unit under the Tariff and Trade Department whose roles among others includes the proper interpretation of WCO/WTO rules and agreements concerning the valuation of goods.

It added, “Nigeria being a member of the World Customs Organization, World Trade Organization and also a signatory to international trade treaties, including Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is constrained to abide by the principles contained therein.”

“We wish to state that this (the report) is incorrect. The Service still stands by its earlier submissions on the matter, as was clearly communicated to the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Customs and Excise, Banking and Currencies on 03 March 2022.”

It said based on global convention (Article VII), the value for customs purposes of imported/exported goods should be based on the actual value paid or payable for them.

The NCS further explained, “This agreement also prescribes five other methods for arriving at Customs value where the transaction value is unacceptable.

“They are the transaction value of identical goods, the transaction value of similar goods, deductive value method, computed value method, and fallback method applied sequentially.”