The Federal Government’s announcement to implement a zero import tariff waiver on selected food items months ago has yet to be felt by Nigerians.
The waiver, which was supposed to commence on August 14, 2024, aimed to reduce the prices of food items by making essential commodities more affordable for citizens.
“The food items to enjoy the zero tariff include husked brown rice, grain, sorghum, millet, maize, wheat, and beans for 150 days spanning from 15th July to 31 December 2024,” said the Comptroller General of NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
Despite the government’s assurance, the prices of food and goods remain high. A market survey showed that a 50-kilogram bag of local or foreign rice is sold between N87,000 and N106,000, while a 50kg bag of beans goes for between N65,000 and N100,000.
“The customs must implement the policy. The customs need to be advised by the ministry of finance, and until that is done, implementation cannot start.
“I think it has to do with the speed of the implementation of the policy. When the Government announces a policy, the ministry ought to work on the guidelines, which are transmitted by the ministry of finance to the customs. I think there is a lag between the announcement of the policy and the production of the guidelines,” said Muda Yusuf, Executive Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise.
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Olufemi Kayode, a member of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, faulted Customs, noting that there was yet to be a clear-cut and proper guideline for the implementation of the zero tariff policy.
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“Generally speaking, from the circular available there are no clear-cut directives apart from the fact that some of the tariffs were mentioned. There are no proper guidelines for its implementation. The Customs must put it into proper perspective.”He said.
In reaction, NCS spokesperson Abdullahi Maiwada denied that the service was sabotaging the implementation of the zero-tariff waiver policy.
“Well, we have issued a statement earlier and we told Nigerians procedures of accessing the tariff waiver. It is malicious to say Customs is sabotaging the implementation of the policy. We are a responsible government agency. We are out to implement all policies formulated by the government,” he added.
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