NAGAFF Founder Urges Proper Documentation
The founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam has enjoined freight forwarders to ensure that they carry out proper documentation and description of goods in their transactions.
In a trade alert he circulated to members of the association, Aniebonam enlightened freight forwarding practitioners of the need for proper documentation and description of imports and exports in line with the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
He warned that freight forwarders who did not heed to his advice did not only risk their business but also imprisonment without an option of fine.
According to the trade alert, a copy of which was obtained by THISDAY, it is a fact and in law that wrong description of imports for Customs declaration is in breach of Section 46,47 and 161 of the Customs and Excise Management 2004 as amended. The inherent penalty thereto shall include but not limited to seizure of goods and prosecution of offenders in a law court. Where you are convicted it shall lead to 5 years imprisonment without an option of fine.
He explained that it was legitimate and lawful that under destination
inspection, the declarant is at liberty to make genuine declaration for
Customs purposes, irrespective of the material content of the Pre-Arrival
Assessment Report (PAAR) as may have been uploaded to the PAAR Unit of the NCS by the consignees.
“The point herein contained is to advise practitioners to ask questions with a view to obtaining the actual content of a laden container from the importers/exporters before making declaration in the single entry document of the NCS. In some of our interaction with the Customs administration, we did discover that the service is highly disturbed at the moment over the non-compliant attitude of practitioners. Aside from the inherent revenue risks and delays associated with clearing goods out of Customs control, the Comptroller General of Customs is not happy that practitioners are messing up NCS systems reliability and integrity,” he said.