Customs Set to Review Bonded Terminal Licenses, Mulls Upward Review of License Fees
Nifemi Coker
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has said the Service is set to review the licenses of bonded terminals operating across the country.
This decision follows trade infractions spotted across three bonded terminals operating in Lagos recently.
Speaking during the handover of 25 seized containers to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Apapa, Adeniyi said the review of licenses will entrench standardization across the Service’s operations in line with global customs procedures, while strengthening compliance with extant trade laws.
He noted that this will forestall the spread of illicit and substandard goods across the nation.
“Customs headquarters is in the process of reviewing the processes of licenses. Such decisions have been taken because we have seen and observed that quite a number of these bonded terminals are openly violating our laws, and as a responsive agency of government, we cannot allow this to continue.
“Every license that is granted has some conditions that have to be met, apart from the bond and the fees of the license.”
He added that the Service will also review the bonded terminal licensing fees, stating that the current fees do not reflect the country’s current economic realities.
“We are not only reviewing the license base to ensure that it is an inclusive process, but we will review the fees to reflect our current situation.
“The license fees that are operational now have been in place for over a decade and are no longer in tune with current realities.
“In conjunction with bonded terminal operators, we have to sit down and review all of these, such that whoever has the license to operate the bonded terminal, and even the customs license, will be those who are deserving of it,” the CG Said.
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