By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Nigeria Customs Service on Thursday said it will begin implementation of duty waiver on food imports once it receives the list of beneficiaries for tax exemptions from the Ministry of Finance.
Recall that the federal government announced a 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities on 8 July 2024 to alleviate food inflation.
Spokesman, NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, disclosed this at the Strategic Communications Inter-agency Policy Committee (SCIPC) meeting, organized by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
September edition of the SCIPC was hosted at the NCS headquarters in Abuja.
According to Maiwada “The issue of food security is crucial. You mentioned the policy announced by the President, and we have issued a statement on the guidelines for benefiting from that policy. I would like to explain it in a way that the common man can understand.
“People might think that anyone can simply import rice. That is not what the policy entails. We have policy issues with long-term, medium-term, and short-term effects.
“When formulating policies with short-term impacts, we must ensure they do not adversely affect long-term policy issues. Our responsibility as a government agency, the Nigeria Customs Service, is to implement government policies.
“That’s why the statement we issued is based on the Federal Ministry of Finance’s guidelines. They have outlined how to benefit from the zero import duty, including the conditions and requirements.
“We have three lines, six lines of tariff lines with the HS code, harmonised system code, initially with a duty of 35%, and some items have been waived.
“However, the policy clearly states that beneficiaries must be millers, taxpayers, and have been in operation for a certain number of years. The Federal Ministry of Finance will issue a quota for these exemptions.
“So, the list of beneficiaries will come from the Ministry of Finance, and our role as a government agency is to implement these directives. We are policy implementers, not formulators.
“Once we receive the lists, we will implement the directives from the Federal Ministry of Finance promptly.”
Meanwhile at the briefing, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that no fewer than 611,201 flood victims across 29 states have received food items as directed by President Bola Tinubu.
It said 42,000 metric tonnes of food commodities have been distributed to the victims.
The president had directed the distribution of relief materials to vulnerable Nigerians across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The flood claimed 201 lives, caused injuries to 2,119, and damaged 83,457 houses.
The flood, according to the agency, has affected 154 local government areas from 29 states and displaced 225,169 persons.
“NEMA is now focused on coordinating relief interventions, with current flood impacts reported as affecting 29 states, 154 local government areas, and displacing 225,169 people.
“Overall, 611,201 individuals have been impacted, 2,119 injured, 201 lives lost, 83,457 houses damaged, and 115,265 hectares of farmland affected.”
